World War 1

Source Based Assessment

Year 8

Levels 3 to 6

World War 1

Source Based Assessment

Year 8

Levels 5 to 7

A military band and marching soldiers are always an inspiring sight, but this was for real – they were off to war and how we youngsters envied them... And to tell you the truth this is why I wanted to enlist – the glamour – to be in uniform – to take part in a great adventure was as much the reason for so many youths joining up as any sense of patriotism...

*Patriotism = love and devotion to your country.Source A: W H A Groom, a Soldier during the First World War.

Q1. What can we learn from source A about why men wanted to enlist during the First World War?

L3 Students are able to extract information from the sources. This is not linked to the question.

L4 Students are able to extract information from the sources and link it to the question.

L5 Students are able to make inferences based upon the sources.

L5+ Students are able to support their inferences with information from the sources.

WW1 Source Assessment

Q2. Source B.

What is the message of this poster and what techniques are used in order to get it’s message across?

Mark What do I need to do?

Level 3 Students identify relevant detail(s) from the source, but do not link them to the message.

Level 4 Students explain the message of the poster but does not link it to the source.

Level 5 Your answer explains the message of the poster and links it directly to the source. ‘E.g. The message of the poster is…. We can tell this because in the poster…’

Level 6 to 7

Your answer explains the message as above and also explains how it does it. You will comment about how it is designed or written, the images that are used, the language and tone.

Level 7 responses will comment on the emotion the poster is trying to create in the reader and the effect it may have on it’s intended audience.

Question 2 Markscheme

‘It was quite the worse trench I have ever seen. A number of men were in it, standing and leaning, silently enduring the following conditions. It was quite dark. The enemy were about two hundred yards away, or rather less. It was raining, and the trench contained nearly a metre of water. The men, therefore, were standing up to the waist in water. They were all wet through and through, with a great deal of their equipment below the water at the bottom of the trench. There they were, taking it all as a necessary part of a great game; not a grumble nor a comment.’

Source C: An account of Trench life by Bruce Bairnsfather, in 1928. He was a soldier during WW1,

Source D: A piece of artwork produced by Paul Nash in 1918. He worked as an official war artist for the British government between 1917 and 1918.

Q3. Examine both Sources C and D. Which of these sources is more useful to a historian who is investigating trench conditions?

Level 5-7

Level 5 Students are able to analyses what the source does and does not tell us.

Level 6 The answer does all of the above and explains how aspects of the source can make it more / less trustworthy.

Level 7 A judgement is made about the usefulness of the sources based on an analysis of the content, nature, origin and purpose of sources.

Question 3 Markscheme

Level 5-7

Q3. ‘What was life like for a frontline First World War Soldier?’ You may wish to include in your answer:

• Conditions in the trenches• Medical problems a soldier could encounter• What the daily life of a soldier was like• Any positive experiences a soldier may have had.

Level 3-6

L3 You are able to describe some of the features of the life of Frontline First World War Soldier. You are beginning to use key words, however, your answer is lacking in detail.

L4 Your answer explains aspects of what being a frontline soldier was like. You use keywords and explain what they mean. You are also able to identify positive aspects of a soldiers life in the trenches.

L5 Your answer explains what life was like in the trenches. It mentions some of the good things about life in the trenches as well as the dangers. You have used keywords, and written your answer in well developed paragraphs.

L6 You have formed your own impression of what being a Frontline WW1 soldier was like and you are able to support your ideas with well explained reasons. You are able to explain in lots of detail about what life was like (both positive and negative aspects) for a frontline First World War Soldier.