Australian History - WW2 Prisoners of War held by the Japanese Source Usefulness

Help your students build historical thinking skills with this no-prep, source usefulness worksheet activities focused on Australian prisoners of war (POWs) held by the Japanese during WWII. This resource includes a slide deck, scaffolded worksheet, and source evaluation tasks to guide students through assessing the usefulness of two real historical sources.

Perfect for middle and high school history students, this activity makes source analysis engaging and accessible while deepening understanding of Australia’s wartime experience.

Product Purpose and Benefits:

✔️ Introduces key concepts of source usefulness (content & provenance)

✔️ Encourages analysis of visual and written sources

✔️ Reinforces inquiry-based learning using real examples

✔️ Helps students write structured, evidence-based responses

✔️ Includes editable digital version for flexible classroom use

What’s Included in This Resource:

1. Editable Slide Deck – “Understanding Source Usefulness”

The lesson begins with a teacher-guided slide deck that introduces key concepts of source usefulness, including content and provenance, bias, perspective, and purpose, with sample questions, sentence starters, and modelled examples to support discussion and explicit teaching of historical thinking skills.

2. Source Evaluation Worksheet

After the slide deck, students apply their learning to a structured, scaffolded worksheet focused on two real sources.

Students are guided to:

• Evaluate each source’s content (what is being said/shown)
• Analyse the provenance (who, when, where, why)
• Make informed judgments about usefulness for understanding the event
• Use evidence to support their evaluation in a clear, written format

3. Source Usefulness Activity

Worksheet designed to deepen understanding.

This task encourages students to:

• Examine the surface and subtext of both sources
• Explore tone, language, and visual cues
• Build confidence in engaging with unfamiliar source types

Learn more about this product’s features, care instructions, and other useful details to help you make an informed choice.

Learn more about this product’s features, care instructions, and other useful details to help you make an informed choice.