Teacher feedback and… | Year 11 Modern History · T1 W1–2 · Answer And…

This key is public by URL, not a secure marking guide. Give the learner the fresh source first; review the key after retaining the initial response and recording access support. Credit historically defensible alternatives that cite the source and state what it cannot show. Do not grade reading fluency as historical reasoning if a transcript or reading support was offered. No QCAA unit result follows from either check.

Day 5 · F, Olive Branch Petition

Defensible response: F was made by the Second Continental Congress in 1775 and addressed to George III. Its short “happy and permanent reconciliation” fragment supports a bounded claim: some delegates sought reconciliation at that point. It does not show that every colonist wanted the same outcome; nor does a request show that the King agreed. The National Archives Museum says he did not formally receive or answer it. A useful next source might be a dated account from another colonial group, the King's proclamation or later Congressional action; verify its maker/date before use. If a learner compares the 1775 petition to the 1776 Declaration, distinguish the change in public position from a proven change in each individual's belief.

Feedback moves:

If maker/audience/purpose are mixed up, return to the source compass and mark Congress → King → request.
If a learner writes “all,” ask which sampled voices the source contains; do not merely cross it out.
If the learner treats the museum's later account as part of the 1775 petition, have them colour-free label “period words” and “later explanation.”
If access support was used, record it and discuss reasoning, not unsupported claims about independent reading.

Day 10 · G and H, petition and service

Defensible response: G relays part of a 1773 primary petition through a modern NPS page. The enslaved petitioners asked for freedom and appealed to legislators' own resistance language; the petition was not granted. H is a modern secondary account of Peter Nelson in 1777: he served 39 days and remained enslaved on return. Together they challenge a universal “everyone was free” claim. Neither source proves the experience of all enslaved people or every Black person; G is partial and mediated, H focuses on one person. A careful research question might be: “How did petitions and militia service relate to enslaved people's claims to freedom in Massachusetts, 1773–1783?” The teacher should choose additional direct records and scholarship before accepting a general conclusion.

Feedback moves:

If G is labelled simply “NPS primary source,” clarify that the quoted 1773 words are primary within a later secondary page.
If H is treated as Peter Nelson's own words, return to the NPS authorship/date and remove the invented quotation.
If the response says “all enslaved people served” or “none gained freedom,” narrow to what these two sources can show.
If a student is distressed, offer the same-source evidence-sort route without role play or identity disclosure; provide school wellbeing support as needed.

Daily calibration and next instruction

Day	What a defensible response includes	Useful next instruction if it is missing
1	A answers what Congress stated, with one open question about practice.	Sort a claim about a document from a claim about a population.
2	A public declaration; B private letter; each matched to a question.	Revisit maker and intended audience before judging usefulness.
3	A's stated ideal, B's request, E labelled later interpretation; no universal experience claim.	Put period source and later commentary on separate dated cards.
4	1776 Declaration, 1777 Articles adopted, 1781 all ratified, 1783 treaty; four different event labels.	Rebuild timeline with “adopted” and “ratified” tokens.
5	F maker/audience/request, bounded claim, unproven unanimity/success, next source.	Model the difference between requesting and receiving.
6	Article II retains state powers unless delegated; no personal-rights conclusion.	Ask “whose sovereignty?” before discussing freedom.
7	A publicly asserts independence; D records Britain's formal recognition in 1783.	Match each source to one narrower question.
8	E a 2021 interpretation; A/B period sources; a corroboration plan.	Separate the archive speaker's date from the period it discusses.
9	A/C/D dated evidence with B or E counterpoint and a limit about excluded voices.	Remove one ungrounded generalisation, then add source ID.
10	G petition not granted; H one 1777 experience; different source kinds/limits.	Mark period quotation versus modern account and limit population claim.

Teacher's next assessment decision: These public checks help choose more teaching. The school still needs its own Unit 1 assessment program, source selection, academic integrity settings and judgements under the live QCAA syllabus. Our use of authentic source excerpts is narrow and no classroom pilot or moderation has been done.