Supporting resources

13 November 2025

Explore a range of general resources to support your civics and citizenship classroom including graphic organisers, thinking routines, literacy strategies and more.

The Supporting resources are useful for a range a range of activities in the civics and citizenship classroom. It includes a range of pedagogical approaches, graphic organisers, ways to access and make the most of parliament publications, and some cards to prompt thinking and reflection. Also included is a list of some useful thinking routines from Harvard Project Zero and some additional material if you're visiting Parliament House.

 

Teaching support

Jigsaw groupings

Jigsaw groupings is a cooperative learning strategy that helps students to synthesise ideas from a range of soures and develop deep understanding of a topic. 

Jigsaw groupings

Challenging conversations

This resource provides strategies that are flexible and adaptable, taking into account teaching context, the age of the students, appropriateness of the topic, the depth of discussion, as well as school and community expectations.

A guide to challenging conversations

Using case studies

Case studies are an excellent way of bringing real-world examples into the classroom. This resource looks at to effectively engage with both short-form and more complex case studies.

Using case studies

Accessing parliament resources

Searching Hansard

Hansard is the official report of the proceedings of the Parliament of Victoria from 1856 to the present day. Hansard contains records of parliamentary debate, question time, member’s statements, constituency questions—any official parliamentary activity.

How to search Hansard

Library publications

The Parliamentary Library produces research papers on matters of importance to Members. Research papers dating back to the 59th Parliament are available online.

Research papers

Creating case studies

Case studies are effective educational tools that can bring curriculum content to life by linking it with real-world events and diverse perspectives. Below is a practical guide for developing and applying case studies, along with recommended formats, sources, and activities for classroom use.

Creating case studies

Literacy support

Parliamentary glossary

The Parliamentary glossary includes definitions for key roles in parliament as well as key processes.

Parliamentary glossary

Literacy strategies

Explore interactive and collaborative approaches to discipline-based literacy that aim to build deep comprehension skills and critical thinking.

Literacy strategies

Graphic organisers

Generating questions


Students can use the 'Question matrix' to generate questions that can be used to support discussion and/or researching topics of interest.

Question matrix

K-W-L Chart

A K-W-L Chart tracks what students know (K) wants to know (W) and have learnt (L) about a topic. This can be used before, during and after research projects.

K-W-L Chart

Note taking

A note taking template helps students to read and extract the most important information from a text, and incorporate into their work in thier own words. 

Note taking template

Exploring civics cards

Decision making cards

The glossary includes definitions for key roles in parliament as well as key processes.

Decision making cards

Action and influence cards

The cards can be used to prompt students to think about the different types of actions that they could take to create change and can be used with the planning and evaluating change activities from the Action and Influence teaching guide.

Action and influence cards

Thinking routines

See, think, wonder

This routine encourages students to make observations and consider different ways of interpreting those observations

See, think, wonder

See, wonder, connect x2

This routine encourages student to look closely at things and make connections to other things, and explore the interconnectedness of knowledge

See, wonder, connect x2

Unveiling stories

This routine helps students investigate the layers of meaning in images and texts, exploring how representation works in the news

Unveiling stories

I used to think … but now I think

One of the core routines, this one uses the sentance stems to prompt students to reflect on what they have learnt and how their thinking might have changed

I used to think … but now I think

Parts, purposes, complexities

This routine encourages students to examine the components of an object or system and explore how they may be connected.

Parts, purposes, complexities

Visiting Parliament House

School experiences

There are a number of free experiences for school groups that link to relevant sections of the Civics and Citizenship and Legal Studies curriculum. Take a tour of Parliament House with your class, take part in a role-play to learn the parliamentary process, or connect with our Tours and Outreach Officers virtually with an online incursion.

School experiences

Social stories

The Parliament House social stories guide visitors through what to expect on their visit, from the front steps, the security check-in, visiting the chambers and leaving the building.

One story is written for visitors of all ages while the other is for school visits, which includes additional information about things such as our Parliamentary role plays.

Social stories

Civic discovery walk

Make the most of your visit to Parliament House and take your class beyond Spring Street.

Civic discovery walk