War Horse

War Horses

L/O: to develop an understanding of setting of a historical novel

Success Criteria: I can…• read a fictional recount• read a related non-fiction article• identify factual evidence to support a fictional

recount• explain why authors use historical settings

for their novels• express an opinion on what I have read

Task 1

War Horse by Michael MorpurgoRecapping Chapters 1-51. What did you imagine the book would be about when

you first saw the cover and title?2. Were the predictions you made before beginning reading

correct?3. Why do you think the book was written from the horse’s

point of view?4. What war is taking place?5. Where does Albert live?6. Joey seems to have a good feel of the character of

people. Why do you think this is the case?

Task 2

Author’s Note

Read or re-read the Author’s note on pp1&2.

1. What is the painting mentioned in this note?2. Why would there be such a painting?3. What is the significance of the painting?4. How does it help to have read the author’s

note before embarking on the book?

Task 3

Background to the historical setting (non-fiction)

Horses pulling artillery

Horses were heavily used in World War One. They were involved in the war's first military conflict involving Great Britain - a cavalry attack near Mons (in Belgium) in August 1914. They were primarily to be used as a form of transport during the war.

When the war broke out in Western Europe in August 1914, both Britain and Germany had a cavalry force that each numbered about 100,000 men. Such a large cavalry would have needed a significant number of horses. Senior military personnel at this time believed in the power of the cavalry attack. In August 1914, no-one could have contemplated the horrors of trench warfare. Cavalry charges were an out-dated form of attack because of the use of machine guns and barbed wire in trench warfare. However, there are war records detailing cavalry charges made right up until 1918, despite the difficulties and dangers this would have caused both horses and soldiers.

In March 1918, the British launched a cavalry charge at the Germans and out of 150 horses used in the charge only 4 survived. The rest were cut down by German machine gun fire. 8 million horses died in the 4 years of the war.

Task 3 continued

Spend 10 minutes making jottings and notes about what you have read so far. You may wish to consider these questions.

• How does the evidence you have read about the use of horses in World War One make you think about the role Joey has to play in France and Belgium?

• How likely do you think it is that he will be reunited with Albert?

Task 4Expand your jottings and notes into well-structured sentences to form a paragraph, exploring the ideas.

Remember sentences must …1. start with a capital letter2. make use of a powerful verb3. include no more than two clauses4. include a range of opening words5. be closed with either . ! or ?6. have clauses either joined by a connective or a conjunction or separated by a

comma

Helpful hints:Openers: try rearranging a sentence or two to start with an adverbVerbs: avoid using boring verbs like went, said, did, gotConnectives: and, or, but, becauseConjunctions: however, therefore, meanwhile, nevertheless…

plenary

1.What reason could Michael Morpurgo have had for writing this story set in World War One?

2.What do you think Michael Morpurgo’s attitude towards World War One is?

3.Earlier on you answered a question about the book being written from the point of view of a horse. After exploring some of the facts about war horses in World War One, has your answer changed? Why do you think the book was written from the horse’s point of view?

Western Europe 1914

Devon

homework

Read the next 5 chapters for

tomorrow (stop at p87)