The Anglo-Saxons Lower KS2: 8 Enquiry Lessons with Source Videos

DESCRIPTION

A complete, enquiry-led Anglo-Saxons unit for Lower Key Stage 2. Eight lessons
built around real primary sources, one pupil journal for the whole unit, and
everything you need to plan, teach and assess.

Unit enquiry: Dark Ages or golden age: how should we judge the Anglo-Saxons?

Every lesson follows the same Little Historians six-stage framework: Time
Travellers, Big Question, Evidence Detectives, Discover, Prove It! and History
Check. In Evidence Detectives the class investigates one source together on the
slides in three steps: what can you see, what might it tell us, and what can it
not tell us. Pupils then take the same three steps on their own in the journal,
on a second source. By Lesson 8 they have handled artefacts, laws, chronicles,
manuscripts, photographs, maps, coins and a Victorian interpretation.

NEW: a one-minute Meet the Source video in every lesson. Each video is built
into the PowerPoint and plays just before pupils open their journals. It
introduces the source they are about to investigate on their own: how it was
found, two “look closer” moments that zoom in on the details, and a question to
take straight into the task. It models the questioning pupils then do
independently, and helps non-specialist teachers launch the journal work with
confidence. No internet connection or video links needed.

THE EIGHT LESSONS

Lesson 1: After the Romans
Where did the Anglo-Saxons come from, and why did they come?
Slides: the Loveden Hill cremation urn. Journal: a brooch from a grave.

Lesson 2: Village Life
What was it really like to live in an Anglo-Saxon village?
Slides: the laws of King Ine of Wessex. Journal: a loom weight, a bone comb and
a clay pot.

Lesson 3: Monks, Monsters and Neighbours
Who shared Britain with the Anglo-Saxons, and how did they get along?
Slides: the River Ness monster in the Life of Columba. Journal: the carved
footprint at Dunadd.

Lesson 4: The Ship in the Ground
What can Sutton Hoo tell us about Anglo-Saxon power and belief?
Slides: the Sutton Hoo helmet. Journal: a 1939 photograph of the ship in the
sand.

Lesson 5: Becoming Christian
How did England change its religion?
Slides: Bede’s story of Augustine. Journal: Bede on King Edwin’s council.

Lesson 6: Gold and Gospels
Was this really a ‘dark’ age?
Slides: a carpet page from the Lindisfarne Gospels. Journal: gold war gear from
the Staffordshire Hoard.

Lesson 7: Kings and Power
How did King Offa become so powerful?
Slides: a silver penny of King Offa. Journal: Offa’s Dyke.

Lesson 8: Dark Ages or Golden Age?
Dark Ages or golden age: how should we judge the Anglo-Saxons?
Slides: a Victorian picture of the Saxons. Journal: the fire-damaged Beowulf
manuscript.