Designing An Inquiry Sequence For HaSS Curriculum

Year Level: 3              Learning Area: HaSS                    Sub-Strands: History, Civics and Citizenship                                               Level of Inquiry: Guided Inquiry

Curriculum Topic of Scale:  The topic deals with history of the Australian people and the rules governing their government bodies.

Inquiry Heading: History, Civics and Citizenship

Concepts of Interdisciplinary Thinking: Roles, rights and responsibilities, significance, continuity and change, cause and effects and interconnection.

Civics and citizenship: government and democracy, laws and citizens, and citizenship, diversity and identity.

History: sources, continuity and change, cause and effect, significance, perspectives, empathy and contestability

General Capabilities: Literacy, Creative thinking, Personal and social competence, and competence in information.

Cross-curriculum Priority: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories and cultures. Knowledge on this offer’s students a view on one of the oldest living cultures in that the mentioned are a community with riches, are strong, diverse and resilient. This will allow students to study the history, political and legal context of the community.

Question/s:

What contributions have the people offered in their community past and present?

How are events celebrated by a community and what are the events celebrated in relation to depicting the society?

What are the evidenced changes in the community? How has the change resulted to loss or retaining of the preceding features?

What has changed over the years in relation to civics and citizenship?

Australian Curriculum Primary HaSS Content Descriptions: Inquiry and Skills:

 This entails explicit teaching by posing questions, obtaining of information, finding relating evidence on gathered data and analysing of the data varyingly in accordance to the sub-strand context. Can be used in investigating events both historical and contemporary.

Knowledge and Understanding:

 This involves encompassing knowledge and understanding from the main sub-strands. In this case the sub-strands in concern are that of History and Civics and Citizenship.

Achievement Standard Extract: By the end of the year, the students should be able to identify events, people, and aspects of significance of the past that are of significance presently. Aspects of community that may have changed or remained the same can be identified. They can identify various celebrations in regard to their importance in the community and the commemorations performed by the different groups. The students can be able to explain what role the rules play in their community being active citizens of the society. Students will also be required to pose questions and collect information from sources to answer the posed questions. They will be required to analyse collected data, develop texts using terms denoting time and can be able to present their found ideas orally, visually or in written format.

Summative Assessment: 

This will be done in order to evaluate the student learning at the end of the unit basing on the areas that will have been covered. The meet the achievement standard of the year the student should complete a paper, conducted a group project and an exam.

Phase of Inquiry:  Questioning and Researching

Duration:  30 – 60 minutes

Phase Overview (Focus):

Current understanding on the topic by the students will be identified.

Phase Learning Intentions: Understanding checking is a key function under guided instruction, in that student’s response helps in identifying the precise content to be added to the students understanding. Helps in discerning what the students know, what the student does not know and if there is existence of any misconception hindering student understanding. Information hindering understanding of the student can be corrected. The thinking processes involved are observing, interpreting and comprehending.

Teaching and Learning Experiences

Formative Assessment

Organisation and Management

Catering for Diverse Learning Needs

Stimulus:

 Using a picture linked to learning of the lesson. This is meant to capture student attention. The picture depicts a historical artefact still in use like vehicles of the past and present.

Done by asking questions in relation to the picture. Students provide answers orally

 Picture is projected on white board. Question is answered individually. Questions asked randomly.

 Describing picture content to students with eyes disabilities. Adjusting projected picture to suit all students.

Enhancement:

Explain and elaborate on the student’s answers. Allow students to also provide added information on classmate’s answers. Providing feedback on knowledge misconceptions. Get students in groups to discuss the provided answers and added knowledge.

 Students provide extra knowledge on answered questions through oral representation.

 Students to note down the correct answers. Done individually. Approved answer will be further discussed and be noted in students’ workbooks.

 Students can further discuss the provided answers. Students are provided with reference materials for the discussed questions.

Consolidation:

Summarise the learnt topic in few points. Identify the missing points and discuss them. Teacher to clarify and sort out any doubts by students.

 Identify key points and note down five key points each. Show work to peer.

 Students to work in pairs for review of provided key points. This will be done peer to peer.

 Arrange the students in accordance to assistance they can offer each other.

Teacher Reflection:

 Observing this will provide an overview of what the students have already covered in terms of their previous classes and the areas they are experiencing hardship. This will also improve their observation, interpretation and comprehension of the topic to be discussed. The interaction between teacher to student and student to student will also increase greatly building an interest to the topic.

Phase of Inquiry: Exploring

Duration: 60-120 minutes

Phase Overview (Focus):

A criteria for selecting relevant information in terms of accuracy, reliability and usefulness should be developed. This helps in improving the understanding of the explored topic. This will involve collection and analysis of evidence pertaining the selected topic. The key skills to be involved here are researching, listening, critical thinking and analysis.

Phase Learning Intentions:

 Students will be involved in discussions of essence of rules in a society and how the rules help in keeping the society safe. The enforcers of law will also be identified, and consequences of breaking laws will also be observed. The students will do a research on the diversity of Aboriginal improving on their understanding of heritage of the local area, in both the present and the past.

Teaching and Learning Experiences

Formative Assessment

Organisation and Management

Catering for Diverse Learning Needs

Stimulus:

 Make a brief introduction of the topic. Allow the students to briefly discuss the issue and slowly transition to introduce the activity.

Apply brainstorming exercise. Answers are relayed verbally.

Ask students the various rules they know.

 Brainstormed ideas are to be written on the board. Discussed rules are to be referred in the textbooks. Verbalised ideas can be from the peer discussion.

 Students in need of help will be placed near peers that are able to provide the student with help.

Enhancement:

 The students will be allocated in groups to allow each group to discuss a different societal rule (relevant rules to be applied only). Each group is to discuss whether the rule is right or if it is unfair. Students should pose suggestion on if the rule should be altered. Assure the students that their discoveries need not to be so detailed for their easy understanding.

 Short questions linking up to the activity. Mini whiteboards for sharing the acquired information.

 Should be done in groups on different tables. Web search is allowed and a compiled list of all findings on the rules is to be provided. Each group is to share their finding after the discussion

 Students needing an extra bit of help will be placed with students who are able to provide assistance to them. This in tern enhances peer learning and teaching.

Consolidation:

 After group session is over, students are to ask the group leader to present the information gathered to the class. Find out if the class accepts the rule changes proposed by the groups. Sum up the discussion by stating that rules are set to govern safety of a society.

Students are also required to conduct a research on the laws that existed for the Aboriginal from listening to the elders in the society.

 Class presentation

Exchanging of researched knowledge.

Assignment

 Performed by individual group member on whiteboard.

Assignment done individually

 Students that do not understand can see the teacher for clarification.

Teacher Reflection:

 The group task will help on improving peer learning among students. Assignment should provide the knowledge on the historical applicable to the Aboriginal which can be compared to the acquired content.

Phase of Inquiry:  Finding Argument/look

Duration: 30 – 60 minutes

Phase Overview (Focus):

Introducing of the Government and finding prior knowledge of what students know about the running of parliament.

Introducing the Aboriginal laws students identified from the assignment.

Phase Learning Intentions:

 Students are to learn of how voting is conducted in parliaments and the applicable rules of voting. The roles played by the persons involved in the voting process is also accounted for.

Students share their finding on the laws that governed the Aboriginal. Thinking process engaged are recalling and evaluating.

Teaching and Learning Experiences

Formative Assessment

Organisation and Management

Catering for Diverse Learning Needs

Stimulus:

 This will involve class brainstorming on the assignment previously provided for class.

Showing class a video introducing government of Australia.

A transition will be made to accommodate for an election play by the students. Carrying out the voting in class.

Comparing student findings.

Students involved in cloze activities.

Student findings will involve a random verbal airing of their findings.

 Done by two groups. Teacher overseeing the election.

 Lesson consists of videos, visual aids for visual learners

Lesson is adapted to kinaesthetic learners requiring use of hands and frequent movement to understand concept. 

Enhancement:

 Democratic government with two sides will be discussed. Prop polling booth concept will be discussed.

Discussing roles played by individuals in the voting.

 Students summing up the votes.

 Votes to be counted in presence of one representative from each group. Counted votes to be displayed on screen.

 Use of videos, visual aids for adapting to visual learners.

Consolidation:

 Basing on the previous lessons, student should be familiar with ruling and concepts of making rules. Student should also understand of how rule making affects the society

 Student revising previous content.

 Use of workbooks.

Done individually.

 Students who need help in understanding to be paired to those who have understood.

Teacher Reflection:

 Students should have learnt the basis of ruling and the changes that have occurred over the years

Phase of Inquiry:  Sort

Duration: 30 – 60 minutes

Phase Overview (Focus):

Links the content learnt through out the inquiry. Shows how the covered topics can be linked up in view of observing the content header.

Phase Learning Intentions:

 Students reflect upon their learning journey in relation to the topic covered. The whole topic is summed up in forming a historical analysis of change of law over the years summarising both historical and legislation sub-strands.

The thinking process involved are comparing, contrasting and classifying

Teaching and Learning Experiences

Formative Assessment

Organisation and Management

Catering for Diverse Learning Needs

Stimulus:

 Students make use of mind-map in linking the contents learned.

 Modelling and structuring of content links

 Use of Mind map for connecting the contents.

 Class will be adapted to visual aids

Enhancement:

 Teacher explains to students how the content learned over the duration links together addressing any issue pertaining understanding of the content. students will be required to make a reflective overview of what they have covered over the course.

 Participate in reflective activity by constructing a concept wall of covered content.

Answering reflective questions.

 Use of boards.

Noting down points from reflective session in workbooks

 Use of visual aids.

Consolidation:

Students should do a self-assessment on the content learnt so far.

The teacher should conclude by iterating that as observed in the present and past, law is a fundamental structure in societal co-existence and should be adhered to by everyone.

 Self-assessment.

Assignment covering most of content covered.

 Done individually.

Use of workbooks.

 Students to assist each other in understanding and see the teacher for further clarifications.

Use of visual aids

Teacher Reflection:

 Students should have understood the importance of law in society. Students should have further knowledge of their cultural background and the customs that are still presently applicable.

Components of primary HaSS inquiry plan 

Criteria with Definition

Evidence in Planning

Principles of inquiry pedagogy in the teaching and learning

strategies

 Use of picture relating to topic

Student discussion on topic

Use of video

Play act on constitution

Use of mind map

 Phase one of the learning sequence.

Phase two of the learning sequence

Phase three

Phase four of learning sequence.

Interdisciplinary Concepts of Thinking

Observing, interpreting and comprehending

Researching, critical thinking and analysis

Recalling and evaluating

Comparing, contrasting and classifying

 Phase one

Phase two

Phase three

Phase four

General Capabilities

 Group work, research skills, explanation and communication

 Phase two and three employ the use of these.

Cross-curriculum Priority

 Use of play act and assignment to tackle the two sub-strands

 Phase two and three

Assessments

 Listening Assessment

Group assignment

 Phase two

Organisation and management

 Use of workbooks, whiteboards, mind maps

 Phase one

  Phase two

Phase three

Phase four

Catering for diverse learners

 Use of visual aids

 Use of Kinaesthetic

Peer grouping

 Phase three

Phase two