ato logo
Search Suggestion:

Topic 3 – Rights, rules and responsibilities

This primary school resource focuses on establishing strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Last updated 27 February 2020

This primary school resource focuses on teaching values and actions to help establish strong foundations for learning about tax and super.

Overview

Tax talk

  • The collective good relies on people following rules and being honest.

Learning intention

In this topic, students:

  • understand that all children in the world have the same rights
  • understand that rules protect people’s rights
  • recognise the responsibilities that come with rights
  • make and justify ethical decisions
  • reflect on the consequences of different actions.

Focus question

  • How do people benefit from and contribute to their communities?

Activities

  1. Introduction – the United Nations and rights of the child
  2. Rights and responsibilities – matching game
  3. Extension – poster
  4. Knowing and doing what’s right – integrity game
  5. Choosing actions – justifying choices
  6. Why rules exist – predicting consequences
  7. Rules in the community – what if?
  8. Reflection – a take home message

Resources

Some resources are available as both a PDF and as accessible text. If a resource does not have a text version and you need an accessible version, email us at schoolseducationprogram@ato.gov.au.

Topic 3 resources

Australian Curriculum Connections

Content

  • English
  • HASS
  • HPE

General Capabilities

  • Literacy
  • ICT
  • Critical and Creative Thinking
  • Personal and Social Capability
  • Ethical Understanding
  • Intercultural Understanding

Curriculum mapping

Key terms

Integrity: 'being true to yourself and others' and 'knowing and doing what’s right'.

Notes for teachers

Values are always implicitly being modelled in schools. They are transmitted by what school's reward and punish and by how teachers and administrators act.

Return to:

Introduction – the United Nations and rights of the child

  1. Show the United Nations logo to students (this can be accessed at: freelogovectors.net/un-united-nations-logo (PDF)External Link).
  2. Explain what the United Nations is and why it exists.
  3. Explain that the United Nations has a Declaration on Rights of the Child which sets down rights for every child in the world.
     
    The United Nations is an international organisation committed to maintaining international peace and security; developing friendly relations among nations; promoting social progress, better living standards and human rights. It was formed in 1945 after World War II.

Rights and responsibilities and responsibilities – matching game

  1. Introduce the game by telling students that the game they are about to play is based on the United Nations ‘Rights of the Child’ and that these rights belong to every child in the world.
  2. Distribute one right or one responsibility card to each student (Resource 1 – PDF, 109KBThis link will download a file).
  3. Students find the student with their matching card and stand together at the edge of the room.
  4. After all cards have been matched, each pair reads their right and responsibility to the class.
  5. Each pair to think-pair-share what it would be like for a child if their right was denied. Use protective interrupting if necessary.

Teacher tip

There are 13 sets of matching cards, some sets of cards may need to be printed twice if class size is larger than 26.

Extension – poster

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Individual students:      
    • select two rights – one that protects their safety and another that protects their health
    • identify the actions they could take help them stay safe and healthy
    • create a poster communicating how people can take action to protect their own rights and stay healthy and safe.

Knowing and doing what's right – integrity game

  1. Use a grouping strategy to create groups of two to four.
  2. Explain the instructions and rules of the Integrity game (Resource 2 – PDF, 95KBThis link will download a file).      
    • Collect a game board, a different coloured counter each, one dice and a set of cards (Do-right cards and Do-wrong cards).
    • Shuffle the cards and place face down.
    • Each person rolls the dice and moves the number of spaces indicated.
    • Select a card whenever you land on a coloured square.
    • Read the card out to the group and move your counter as indicated.
    • First person to arrive at the Bank wins.
  3. Ask:      
    • What were you thinking when you chose a card that followed a rule or made a good decision?
    • How did you feel when you followed a rule of made a good decision?

Choosing actions – justifying choices

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

Groups

  1. Select one decision card (Resource 3 – PDF, 74KBThis link will download a file).
  2. List at least three possible actions on the record sheet (Resource 4 – PDF, 62KBThis link will download a file).
  3. Brainstorm at least one consequence of each action.
  4. Choose one action to take.
  5. Explain their group’s choice.
  6. Ask each group to respond to the following:      
    • Did everyone agree with your group’s choices?
    • How did your group make decisions when there was not agreement?
    • When might it be important to make decisions democratically? Why?

Individual students

  • Select one new decision card
  • Identify possible actions
  • Determine at least one consequence of each action.
  • Select and justify an action to take.

Why rules exist – predicting consequences

Individual students

  1. Select one do-right card or one do-wrong card from the Integrity game (Resource 2 – PDF, 95KBThis link will download a file).
  2. Decide what might happen next.
  3. Write or draw one possible consequence.
  4. Explain why they think this might happen.

Rules in the community – What if?

This activity may contribute to student portfolios.

  1. Use a grouping strategy that allows students to work with a new partner for each question.
  2. Pose a ‘what if’ question and give pairs discussion time to decide what might happen and what might happen next.
  3. Invite students to select a graphic organiser online to show their thinking. Students can also use Resource 6 (PDF, 68KB)This link will download a file.
  4. Call for responses.

Prompts

  • You were allowed to run on the concrete at school.
  • Your parents let you eat junk food all day.
  • You didn’t have to put your hand up to speak in class.
  • You were allowed to pick flowers in the local park.
  • You played a game of netball and your referee took away the hoops and didn’t tell you why.
  • You threw your rubbish into your local river instead of a bin.
  • You were allowed to draw in library books.
  • You were allowed to drive the car.

Individual students

  • Write a short paragraph on why rules (or laws) are important by drawing on examples from their ‘what if’ answers and their answers from Activity 5 and 6.
  • Illustrate the consequences of not following rules.

Reflection – take home message

  1. Ask:  
    • On a scale of 1–10, how well do you follow rules?
    • What score would your parents/carers give you? Check out their answer tonight.
    • What is one thing you learnt today that you could share with a parent or another adult?

Continue to:

Return to:

QC61260