Big Ideas in Small Books: Using Picture Books to Teach HaSS in the Primary Classroom

Image by: What to Read to Kids 2020

In today’s diverse and dynamic classrooms, young learners are increasingly encountering big questions: 

What is fair? Why do some people get treated differently? What does it mean to belong? 

While these ideas can feel abstract or complex, picture books offer a powerful and age-appropriate entry point. Through compelling narratives and rich illustrations, picture books help students explore concepts like identity, inclusion, cultural diversity, and fairness in a way that is both engaging and accessible.

Far from being just bedtime stories, picture books can serve as tools for critical thinking, ethical reasoning, and civic engagement, all core aims of the Australian HASS curriculum. By carefully selecting books that reflect a range of lived experiences and perspectives, teachers can foster classroom conversations that support students' development as compassionate, reflective, and socially aware citizens.

Why Picture Books Matter in the HASS Classroom

Picture books function as cultural artefacts that reflect, challenge, and reshape our understandings of the world. They invite young readers to consider multiple viewpoints and to reflect on how characters navigate ethical and social dilemmas. In the Humanities and Social Sciences learning area, which emphasises inquiry, perspective-taking, and active citizenship, this makes picture books particularly
valuable.

Image By Boyd Christian School 2014             

Research supports the use of narrative texts in building empathy and intercultural understanding. As Simpson (2020) argues, literature can become a space where students encounter both familiar and unfamiliar worlds, helping them to critically examine their own beliefs while developing an appreciation for others’ experiences. For younger students, where abstract concepts can be difficult to grasp, stories told through characters and pictures provide a more concrete and emotionally resonant path to understanding.

Three Picture Books that Spark Big Conversations

Here are three powerful picture books that can be used to initiate rich, inquiry-based discussions about social justice with primary students:

1. The Island by Armin Greder

This stark and haunting picture book explores themes of exclusion, fear, and the treatment of outsiders. The narrative, paired with bold charcoal illustrations, presents a community that rejects a castaway — raising ethical questions about belonging and difference.

Classroom prompt: Why do people fear what they don’t understand? Whose voice is not being heard in this story?

2. Sorry Day by Coral Vass and Dub Leffler

Told through a dual narrative structure, this book connects the 2008 Apology to the Stolen Generations with a fictional child’s experience of removal. It opens the door to conversations about truth-telling, reconciliation, and historical justice.

Classroom prompt: What does ‘saying sorry’ mean in this context? How can we learn from the past to do better in the future?

3. My Two Blankets by Irena Kobald and Freya Blackwood

This gentle story follows a young refugee as she adjusts to a new culture, language, and identity. Through metaphor and tender illustrations, the book explores themes of migration, inclusion, and friendship.

Classroom prompt: What helps someone feel at home in a new place? How can we help others feel welcome in our classroom?

Practical Strategies for the Classroom

To make the most of these texts, teachers can embed them within inquiry-based learning units and use them as springboards for meaningful activities. Here are a few strategies to support implementation:

• Use Visible Thinking routines: Approaches like See, Think, Wonder or Connect, Extend, Challenge can help students unpack both textual and visual elements in a structured way.

• Encourage discussion through drama: Role-play or Readers Theatre allows students to step into the shoes of characters and reflect on their choices and emotions.

• Link to inquiry questions: Align books with broad guiding questions such as “What makes a community fair?” or “How can we show respect for difference?”

• Prioritise diverse perspectives: Regularly include stories that represent a range of cultural, linguistic, and social experiences to build an inclusive classroom culture.

Conclusion

Using picture books in the HASS classroom is not about simplifying complex issues, it’s about making them visible and meaningful to young learners. Through carefully chosen stories, teachers can create spaces where students explore their values, question injustices, and imagine more inclusive futures. As students reflect on the experiences of fictional characters, they begin to develop the empathy, curiosity, and critical thinking skills needed to participate thoughtfully in the world around them.

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References

Simpson, A. (2020). PETAA Paper 217: Literature circles and reading for meaning. Primary English Teaching Association Australia.

 🧰 Curating the Past and Present: Choosing Powerful Learning Materials for HASS

📚 Why Resource Selection Matters in HASS

In the Humanities and Social Sciences, the learning materials we choose are not neutral—they shape how students understand people, places, histories, and systems. Whether it’s a political cartoon, a primary source letter, a modern news article, or a hand-carved tool, each artefact brings a perspective that either deepens understanding or risks flattening complexity.

Unlike some subjects where a single textbook might do, HASS requires diverse, multimodal resources that reflect real-world inquiry and build critical, disciplinary knowledge. Materials must support students to question, interpret, analyse, and empathise—not just remember facts.

As Parker (2020) reminds us, HASS teaching must go beyond generic “worksheets” and draw students into authentic disciplinary practices through rich, relevant materials.

 

🗂️ What Counts as a 'HASS Learning Material'?

A HASS learning material isn’t just a handout—it’s any text, artefact, image, document, or tool that helps students engage with inquiry. Effective materials:

• Support exploration of real-world or historical contexts
• Represent multiple perspectives and voices
• Invite analysis and interpretation
• Reflect the language, tools, and texts of the discipline
• Are age-appropriate, accurate, and inclusive

This includes both primary sources (e.g., letters, maps, artefacts, oral histories) and secondary sources (e.g., textbook explanations, documentaries, websites).

 

🕵️‍♀️ Using Artefacts and Sources: Making Learning Tangible

Artefacts—both physical and digital—allow students to interact with history, geography, civics, and economics in concrete, visual, and tactile ways. They act as springboards for inference, empathy, and critical thinking.

Examples of HASS artefacts and materials:

• History: Replica tools, immigration documents, diary entries, photographs, timelines
• Geography: Weather maps, topographic maps, satellite imagery, land use plans, items from the natural enviornment
• Civics: Voting ballots, campaign posters, parliamentary transcripts, protest footage
• Economics: Product packaging, pricing data, ads from different eras, budget infographics

🧠 Tip: Artefacts don’t need to be “old”—they just need to represent a context, viewpoint, or system that students can question and analyse.

 

🧠 How to Select Effective Materials

Use the following criteria to guide your selection:

1. Authenticity

Does the material come from the real world or simulate a genuine civic, historical, geographic, or economic context? Students should feel like they’re working with the same kinds of resources professionals would use.

2. Complexity

Does it require thinking beyond the surface? Look for materials that aren’t too simple or closed-ended—those that invite interpretation, questioning, or comparison.

3. Accessibility

Is it suitable for your learners in terms of readability, cultural familiarity, and scaffolding needs? Offer visuals, vocab supports, and guiding questions where necessary.

4. Inclusivity

Does the material reflect a diversity of voices? Especially in history and civics, consider whose stories are told—and whose are left out.

5. Alignment

Does it align with curriculum goals, inquiry questions, or disciplinary skills? Always ask: What thinking will this material prompt?

 

📦 Example: Year 5 History – The Gold Rush

Topic: The impact of the gold rush on different groups in Australia.

Materials to include:

• A newspaper excerpt from 1851 describing gold fever
• A mining licence document (primary source)
• A political cartoon showing Chinese miners being harassed
• An image of a recreated goldfields town
• An audio diary reading from a migrant family
• An interactive map showing migration routes

Students are asked to use these artefacts to form evidence-based conclusions about:

"How fair was life on the goldfields, and for whom?"

 

🛠️ Where to Find Quality HASS Materials

Here are some excellent sources for rich, classroom-ready HASS resources:

• Trove (National Library of Australia) – digitised newspapers, photos, letters
• ABC Education – civics, history, and geography videos
• National Museum of Australia – artefact images, virtual exhibits, First Nations perspectives
• My Place for Teachers – timelines, character stories, teacher notes
• Australian Electoral Commission – mock voting kits and civics resources
• Geoscience Australia – downloadable maps and spatial tools
• State libraries/museums – often have education packs and curated collections
• Your own life/backyard - often we have our own rich artifacts students can explore or bring their own in

🧠 Pro Tip: Build your own classroom resource bank using Google Drive folders or Padlets so students can access materials easily.

 

✏️ Student Use: From Passive to Active

The goal isn’t just to show materials—it’s to have students use them to think. Try framing resource use around verbs like:

• Compare
• Infer
• Evaluate
• Sequence
• Classify
• Judge
• Justify

For example:

• “Compare two images of land use and infer how this environment has changed.”
• “Evaluate the reliability of these two newspaper reports on a protest.”

These verbs align with both Bloom’s Taxonomy and the skills strand in the HASS curriculum.

 

🎓 Final Thoughts: Materials That Make Meaning

Powerful HASS learning happens when students explore rich, real-world materials that challenge them to think deeply. Whether it’s through a torn photo, a census sheet, or a town plan, the resources we choose shape the inquiries our students undertake and the connections they make.

Design your units like a museum exhibition—thoughtfully curated, purposefully layered, and full of stories waiting to be uncovered.

 

🧩 The Art of Personalised HASS: Making the Curriculum Meaningful for Every Student

🧩 The Art of Personalised HASS: Making the Curriculum Meaningful for Every Student

🎓 Theoretical Foundations: Differentiation, Student Voice, and Identity

Personalising learning in HASS is grounded in principles of differentiated instruction, Universal Design for Learning, and culturally responsive pedagogy. These frameworks share a common goal: to ensure every student can access, engage with, and find meaning in what they’re learning.

In HASS, where we examine histories, places, cultures, systems, and identities, personalisation isn’t just an option—it’s a pedagogical imperative. When students see their stories, communities, questions, and challenges reflected in the curriculum, they are more likely to invest, participate, and retain what they learn.

Personalisation in HASS involves:

              • Adjusting content, process, product, and environment

              • Incorporating student choice and voice

              • Embedding cultural and contextual relevance

              • Valuing diverse worldviews and lived experiences

 

🎯 Why Personalised Learning Matters in HASS

Unlike subjects that are more skills-based or procedural, HASS is interpretive, narrative-driven, and context-sensitive. It invites students to explore:

              • Who they are and where they come from

              • How people live and interact in different settings

              • What justice, power, identity, and environment mean to them

By personalising HASS, we:

              • Support students with varied learning preferences and literacy levels

              • Engage learners through relevant, authentic inquiry

              • Foster inclusivity, agency, and motivation

              • Build critical and creative thinking in relation to their world

 

🛠️ Strategies for Personalising HASS in Practice

1. Interest-Based Inquiry Questions

Give students choice in what they explore, while guiding them with key concepts.

Examples:

              • In Civics: “What does fairness mean to me?” or “How does leadership work in my culture?”

              • In Geography: “How does my neighbourhood manage natural resources?”

              • In History: “Whose stories haven’t been told in our local community?”

Use student-driven questions to co-construct inquiry pathways while still aligning with curriculum content descriptors.

2. Differentiated Learning Pathways

Modify learning tasks based on readiness, need, or learning profile.

Ideas:

              • Use tiered activities with visual, oral, written, and hands-on options

              • Offer different end products: video presentations, maps, dioramas, journals

              • Scaffold research tasks for students needing extra support

              • Incorporate extension tasks for deeper analysis

This allows all students to access core HASS concepts at their own level, with room to grow.

3. Relatable, Localised Case Studies

Swap generic textbook examples for local or culturally relevant stories.

For example:

              • Replace a general history topic with a community migration story

              • Use maps of the students’ own suburb or country of heritage

              • Invite students to interview their families about cultural celebrations

              • Integrate community or First Nations perspectives that reflect the class makeup

Place-based, student-centred learning fosters meaning-making and belonging.

4. Student-Led Presentations and Products

Allow students to demonstrate understanding in ways that reflect their strengths and interests.

Ideas:

              • Podcasts, zines, or documentaries on community change

              • Personal timelines or illustrated life journeys

              • Maps of important places in their identity or ancestry

              • Peer teaching sessions on cultural knowledge

These multimodal and choice-driven outputs enhance motivation and creativity.

 

🧠 In Action: A Year 6 HASS Unit on Migration

Personalisation Focus:

              • Students begin with the broad question: “Why do people move?”

              • They then choose a migration story to explore: family, local community member, or a fictional case.

              • Tasks are differentiated based on readiness:

                             ○ Some students create a digital story

                             ○ Others produce a research poster or infographic

                             ○ One group works with a scribe or buddy to create an oral narrative

Outcomes:

              • Students learn the economic, political and cultural drivers of migration

              • They connect emotionally and intellectually with the topic

              • All students access the content in a meaningful, personal way

 

💬 Final Thoughts: The Personal is Pedagogical

Personalising HASS is about more than just engagement—it’s about justice, identity, and inclusion. When students see that their voices, communities, histories, and questions matter, they don’t just learn HASS—they live it.

As educators, our role is to design flexible, responsive learning pathways that honour diversity, cultivate agency, and ensure every student sees a place for themselves in the narrative of society.      

    

HAA resources now available

 

 

HAA now has two products available after our successful professional learning program was completed for 2024 yesterday, Saturday 16 November. Here is some information on the HAA products that are now available for individuals and schools to purchase at https://hassaa.org.au/haa-products/ 

The Creative Teaching in HaSS Resource is a comprehensive A-Z listing of lesson starters and teaching activities to support creative teaching in schools. The resource includes a 35 page digital resource containing background on creative teaching, over 250 teaching activities (with links to online resources) and a professional learning presentation on creative teaching in the HaSS classroom. 

A resource written to support the teaching of mapping and fieldwork in the HaSS classroom. Classroom ready for the HaSS teacher! Lots of mapping and fieldwork ideas and links to resources.  The resource includes a 36 page handbook and a professional learning presentation to support HaSS teachers develop an achievable  mapping and fieldwork program for their HaSS class.

The cost of the each of the resources:

HAA Members price for individual copy for personal use only: $20

HAA Members price for an unlimited site licence for the resource in a school: $50. This offer is only available for HAA Corporate members. Details on Corporate membership at https://hassaa.org.au/membership-categories/

Non HAA Members price for individual copy for personal use only: $40

Non HAA Members price for an unlimited site licence for the resource in a school: $100

Join HAA at https://hassaa.org.au/haa-membership-form/ to be eligible for the membership price for the resource.

If you wish to purchase the resource, go to https://hassaa.org.au/haa-products/ for the details and order forms.

A new book on powerful knowledge

What are we teaching?, by Richard Bustin, available from Amazon 

Following the work of Professor David Lambert and Professor Michael Young in the UK, HaSS educators have incorporated the idea of powerful knowledge into their thinking about what is taught in HaSS. There is a new book called What are we teaching? becoming available early in 2025, that articulates this thinking regarding powerful knowledge in a great way. Pre-order now and you will get free postage from the UK. This blog is not about promoting books but this book is one that will help you clarify the significance of HaSS learning and the powerful knowledge that we see as so important for all students to acquire in HaSS.  Here is the write-up on the book:

Richard Bustin in What Are We Teaching? discusses the importance of having a subject-based curriculum in schools and explores the responsibility that teachers, through their subject specialisms, have to help ensure this is achieved. What are we Teaching? moves ideas beyond the traditional vs progressive debates that have dominated education discourse. Teachers are burdened by the overarching emphasis on exam performance at the expense of the broader benefits of teaching their subject, expressed here as capabilities. This book suggests that subjects are key to enabling young people to develop the powerful knowledge needed to flourish in a complex modern world. Part one introduces the key theories on which the book is based, including different ways of making sense of knowledge, skills and values in the curriculum, powerful knowledge and educational capabilities. What are we Teaching? is research-based, using voices of real teachers who engaged with the question ‘what makes your subject a powerful knowledge for young people’, and it is their testimonies that provide a provocation for each chapter in section two which focus on different subject areas. The final part offers advice on building a powerful knowledge, capabilities curriculum in schools. Essential reading for teachers, senior and subject leaders and curriculum coordinators.

A great starting point for a discussion on Global democracy

 

People don't think their countries are very democratic - even in democracies

The map above shows how democratic they feel their government and country to be (the % that say that their country is currently democratic). What a great starting point to start teaching about Global democracy and democratic perceptions of people around the world. 

The data comes from the Democracy Perception Index, and is not an objective measure of democracy but a subjective measure of how democratic they perceive their country as being.

Only about half the world (58%) says their country is democratic. Greece is considered the least democratic by its people (43%) out of all countries labelled as “free” democracies by Freedom House.

Just a random interesting map re: dreams around the world ... or does it tell us more

 Mapping dream searches

The map above shows the most frequently searched dreams by country, categorized into themes like The Human Body, Animals & Nature, Love & Relationships, Money & Objects, Family, and Death. What does it tell us about what is happening in different countries. Yes, geography via random maps. To create this map, Google search data for every country was entered in a spatial data base.

For example, snakes are the most common dream in many countries worldwide. Teeth falling out is a significant dream theme in North America and parts of Europe.  Dreams related to Marriage and Pregnancy are also prevalent in various regions.

Each country is color-coded based on the theme of its most common dream.

For more information about this map go to https://brilliantmaps.com/the-most-common-dreams-by-country/ and watch the video.