PETAA teaching unit

Creating multimodal explanations about Australian democracy with There’s a Prawn in Parliament House

Year 6 English Civics and Citizenship

Bring Australian democracy to life through humour, language and illustration as students build civic knowledge and create multimodal explanations that demonstrate their learning.

Complete teaching unit Teaching slides included Supporting book excerpt included

Access the full curriculum unit

Included with PETAA membership - includes Australian Curriculum, VIC 2.0 Curriculum and NSW syllabes mapping. Non-members can purchase the complete resource package for $50.

Download unit & slides Purchase for $50

Members should log in to access the unit, teaching slides and supporting excerpt.

 

Why teach with There’s a Prawn in Parliament House?

Australian democracy can feel abstract and complex for students. Annabel Crabb’s humorous writing and First Dog on the Moon’s illustrations make big ideas accessible while providing rich opportunities for literacy learning, discussion and multimodal composition.

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Make democracy accessible

Explore Australia’s system of government through humour, storytelling and memorable examples that help students make sense of complex concepts.

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Analyse authorial style

Examine how conversational language, direct address and colloquialisms engage readers and make information easier to understand.

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Explore visual meaning

Investigate how illustrations, symbolism and humour work alongside written language to communicate ideas.

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Build disciplinary vocabulary

Develop understanding of key civic concepts through explicit vocabulary, glossary work, morphology and etymology.

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Strengthen critical thinking

Pose questions, gather information and discuss how democratic systems work and why they matter.

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Create multimodal explanations

Apply learning by composing informative multimodal texts that communicate understanding of Australian democracy.

A sequenced approach to literacy learning

Students build knowledge of Australian democracy, explore how authors and illustrators communicate complex ideas, and apply their learning through multimodal composition. The sequence reflects PETAA's approach to literacy teaching: building knowledge, making language visible and supporting students towards independent application.

🗳️
STEP 1
Build democracy
knowledge
→
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STEP 2
Read &
discuss
→
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STEP 3
Analyse
language
→
🎨
STEP 4
Explore visual
meaning
→
✏️
STEP 5
Create a
multimodal explanation

What’s included in this resource package

This package brings together the complete teaching unit, classroom-ready slides and a supporting PETAA book excerpt to help teachers plan, teach and assess the sequence with confidence.

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Complete teaching unit

A full Year 6 English and Civics and Citizenship teaching sequence, including explicit teaching, discussion prompts, vocabulary work, word knowledge and assessment guidance.

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Teaching slides

Ready-to-use classroom slides for every lesson in the unit, with teacher notes to help organise your thinking. They support knowledge building, vocabulary instruction, authorial style, visual literacy and multimodal composition.

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Supporting book excerpt

A selected excerpt from Teaching the Texts and Language of HASS to strengthen teacher knowledge of Civics and Citizenship text language features and curriculum demands.

One download includes the teaching unit and slides together. The supporting excerpt is included to help connect the classroom sequence with PETAA’s broader work on the language demands of HASS.

Rich assessment task

Students bring together civic knowledge, vocabulary, language choices and visual design to create and present a multimodal explanation.

🎯

Students compose and present a multimodal explanation of one key institution of Australia’s government.

Their final response:

  • explains the role and purpose of a key government institution
  • uses relevant civic vocabulary to demonstrate understanding of Australian democracy
  • uses language and illustration to inform, engage and persuade the reader-viewer
  • communicates why democratic institutions and values matter

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Civic knowledge

Students explain how an institution of Australian government works and connect it to democratic values and beliefs.

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Technical vocabulary

Students purposefully use key HASS vocabulary to explain institutions, roles, responsibilities and democratic processes.

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Language choices

Students draw on authorial style, evaluative language and engaging explanations to communicate ideas clearly.

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Visual design

Students use illustrations, diagrams or other visual elements to support meaning and guide the reader-viewer.

Included with PETAA membership

Access the complete curriculum unit

Download the complete Year 6 teaching unit, including the lesson sequence, classroom-ready slides and supporting excerpt from Teaching the Texts and Language of HASS.

Member download Purchase for $50

PETAA members receive this resource package as part of their membership. Non-members can purchase access for $50.