Anglo-Saxon history is a very important part of the Invaders and Settlers topic. BBC Bitesize have developed a section for teaching the Anglo-Saxons history. It comprises of eight learner guides and eight class clips; all the learner guides are created with the typical informative BBC cartoon style video overview, followed by informative sections written for the young.
The eight sections are:
- Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
- When did the Anglo-Saxons come to Britain?
- How was Anglo-Saxon Britain ruled?
- Who was Alfred the Great
- What was Anglo-Saxon Art and culture like?
- What did the Anglo-Saxons believe?
- What happened to the Anglo-Saxons and the Vikings?
The Class Clips – all eight clips are proper short videos showing evidence if there is any, or as close to evidence as they can provide. There are suggestions of what children could do following each clip in the Classroom Ideas. The clips include the following topics:
- A guide to Bede’s World which is a reconstructed Anglo-Saxon village in Jarrow, north-east England. Some houses in the village are made from wood, some from wattle and daub and some from all three. The buildings were used for housing as well as workshops.
- Life in Anglo-Saxon Britain – an animation showing everyday life through the eyes of one family. This clip shows how they tried to deal with illness. This clip introduces the story of Beowolf – always a class favourite!
- Show the usual jobs needing to be done in village life at the time.
- Clip four introduces the Anglo-Saxon Chronicle – asking who wrote it and why?
- When did the Anglo-Saxons become Christian? The Anglo-Saxons were pagans but there was a mass conversion to Christianity during this time.
- The sixth clip is all about Alfred the Great – who was he and what made him great?
- Who were the Anglo-Saxons?
- Why the Anglo-Saxons came to Britain.
