Lesson Plan

Day: M T W T F Date: Time: 1 hour 30mins Year: 5

Lesson number 4 of 8 (if the lesson is one in a sequence of lessons)

Learning Area: HASS
Topic: Civic and Citizenship: Democracy

Australian Curriculum Content Description: (see ACARA or SCASA)

The key values that underpin Australia’s democracy (ACHASSK115)
- discussing the meaning of democracy
- considering how students apply democratic values in familiar contexts
- discussing the meaning and importance of the key values of Australian democracy (for example, freedom
of election and being elected; freedom of assembly and political participation; freedom of speech,
expression and religious belief; rule of law; other basic human rights)

Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Asia and Australia’s engagement

Cross-curriculum priorities: histories and cultures with Asia
Sustainability

Critical and Ethical Personal and Intercultural

General capabilities: Literacy Numeracy ICT
creative thinking behaviour social capability understanding

Students’ prior knowledge and experience:

(Briefly outline what the students already know about this topic from previous lessons/experiences. Note any particular skills
needed.)

This is the fourth lesson of the unit. Students have covered rights and responsibilities and have begun
unpacking the concept of democracy in relation to other systems of government around the world.

Teaching purpose: (What is the broad purpose of the lesson? What are you teaching – and why?)
WALT- Today we are looking deeper into democracy and how it works within Australia. We will look at how
democracy influences our lives, and will consider would it would look like if we lived in a country without a
democratic system of government.
WILF- I will be looking to see that you can identify and explain the key concepts of democracy and that you
can relate these concepts to your own lives and within our society.
I want to see that you can demonstrate this knowledge through a group presentation highlighting what you
have learned about democracy.
Learning objectives: (What will students know and be able Assessment: (For each learning objective, state how you will
to do at the completion of the lesson – specific, concise and assess the degree to which the objective has been achieved.
attainable objectives. Use relevant taxonomies.) What will be the evidence of the learning? Consider formative
and, if appropriate, summative assessment strategies)
On completion of this lesson, students will be able
to: Formative assessments

 Explain the key concepts of democracy and - Observation and direct discussion- as a class
how they relate to life in Australia we will be discussing democracy and creating
 Evaluate the impact of democracy on their a Y Chart demonstrating the classes retention
daily lives of information from the previous lesson.
- Peer Assessment- students will be conducting
a jigsaw activity on the key concepts of
democracy. They will use a rubric to evaluate
their peers’ presentations.
- FlipGrid presentations. Students will record
their presentations on FlipGrid. This will be
assessed by the teacher using the same rubric
criteria that students used for the peer
assessment.

Preparation and Resources:

(Detail what resources will be used and what other preparation of the learning environment will be required)

Butchers paper
Pens
Smartboard
IPads
FlipGrid uploaded on all devices
Previous lessons charts on the walls for referencing.

Catering for diversity (detail any adjustments or considerations for educational/resource adjustments)
Students requiring additional support will be paired with a peer for the jigsaw activity allowing them greater
take up time and peers support to engage with the task.

Timing Learning experiences

 Introduction: (How will you engage the learners and set the scene for the lesson?)

Bring students to the mat at the front of the class.

10mins Recap on last lesson

Y Chart- Based on what we learned about democracy in the previous lesson; what does
democracy look like, sound like and feel like?

As a group we will write on a chart filling out our thoughts on democracy.

Sequence of learning experiences: (What learning experiences will help the students achieve the learning objectives?
What instructional strategies will be used?)

Inform students that today we will be looking more closely at democracy in Australia.

We have looked at the different systems of government around the world. Today we begin to
focus more directly on democracy within Australia. I spent a lot of time talking yesterday. Today
you are going to becoming experts in the history of democracy within Australia.
55mins
Jigsaw (50 minutes: 15 minutes reading and preparation, 15 minutes brainstorming with expert
groups, 25 minutes upskilling your home group and assessing each other’s information)

Step 1- home groups

Organise students into ‘home’ groups of 5 or 6 (4 students will be paired with a peer for support).

Inform students of the task- they will each be assigned a key concept that they will be researching
and preparing a mini presentation to share with their group. They will conduct their research in
‘expert’ groups before coming returning to their home group to share their presentations.

Explain the evaluation criteria with students, modelling how assessing each other’s work will look
with examples.

Step 2- research

“Research the following key concepts of democracy in your expert groups. You will then be
upskilling your home group members so that you all become experts on democracy in Australia.”

- Freedom of election and being elected

- Freedom of assembly and political participation
- Freedom of speech, expression and religious belief
- Rule of Law
- Basic Human Rights

Key Questions

What do these terms mean to you?

How do they relate to our/your way of life in Australia?

How did the concept come to be embedded in our democratic system?

What would happen if they didn’t exist, how would our society, and your lives, be impacted, what
would change?

Step 3- evaluation
Let students know that they will be assessing each other presentations in their home groups.
“You will each have a marking sheet with key criteria that you will be looking for”. Inform
students that they need to show that they are addressing the key questions in their
presentations.
Run though the key questions. Model what you are looking for. Give an example for each
question to give students a starting point.

Step 4- group structure

Assign pairs within the group with a task, 2 will share using the IPad to research, 2 will scribe, 1 or
2 will read back the collated information to the group for revision.

Step 5- Students move to expert groups. Move between groups supporting and providing
direction where needed.
Step 6- Students return to home groups. Move between groups supporting and providing
direction where needed. Faciliate group presentations.
Step 7- Feedback. Discussion about the evaluative process, what did they like, what worked well,
what was difficult. Provide feedback on each topic. Provide students a few minutes to revise their
presentations before moving to the next step.

Flipgrid presentations

“Once you have put together your presentations, you will be recording them on Flipgrid. You will
each have a turn presenting your segment of information and each will take a turn recording a
group member. I will be assessing these presentations using the same rubric you used for each
other”

(FlipGrid presentations may be continued in the next lesson)

Lesson conclusion: (How will you summarise the learning and relate it to the lesson objectives?)

Democracy impacts all of our lives in Australia. The key concepts of democracy tie in with our
basic human rights, responsibilities and freedoms. It is important to know what our rights are, so
that we can protect them. In the next lesson we will begin looking into the electoral process. This
 is particularly relevant for you in yr 5 as next term students wanting to be student councillors will
be able to nominate themselves and start canvassing for votes!

Lesson Evaluation:
(Reflect on the lesson. What worked? What did not work? What would you change? Why? Only complete this section if you
actually taught the lesson)

This lesson has a series of assessable elements that will provide ongoing information regarding how
students are engaging with the task and the lesson content.
The recap will allow the teacher to see how much information students have retained. If there are
significant gaols at the beginning of the lesson, we can spend more time revising the previous information.

The Y Chart will support this feedback and help bolster the learning for students who have not retained or
comprehended the information effectively.

The Jigsaw is a supported learning method that encourages accountability and engagement, as well as
supporting students of all learning abilities.

Peer Assessment is a key learning skill for students to develop. If students engage well, they will be achieve
learning goals and develop their skills in learning about learning (ref).