Anglo Saxon Introduce Me

Hello, I’m a lyre or harp. I’m a musical instrument. I’ve got strings which you pluck. When poets tell stories or songs they often play their harp. Kings like to listen to stories when they have a feast for their companions....

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Anglo Saxon Introduce Me

This is a collection of information sheets about the Anglo Saxons which will be added to. I have also produced a smaller card version with the same information which you might prefer to use. I’m hoping that they can be used for children to present information to each other. Everyone could be given a card so they can become a history expert on one item. They should be encouraged to read their card, study the picture carefully and then present their information to another child in their own words. We encourage children to put their card face down while presenting, The other child then presents their information in the same way. Now each child (let’s call them child A and child B) has two items of information.

We then suggest that the pair of children meet up with another pair who have also shared information. Then child A presents child B’s information to C and D. It works quite well when children ‘become’ the item and present it in role: e.g.

The group of four might then present their information to the whole class and this could progress to a class assembly presentation. You might want to organise the items of information in thematic fours. I suggest you put coloured dots on groups of cards to help sort them into groups.

The purpose of the activity is to ensure that children have talked about the topic several times and in several different ways and to different children well before they have to produce any writing.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Bows and Arrows

We hunt with bows and arrows. Houses We shoot birds, deer, rabbits and hares. We protect our We build houses made of wood, sheep from wolves. We fight in mud and straw. We repair them the fyrd with bows and arrows every year. too.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Baskets Weapons We make straw baskets and We fight in the fyrd with spears wooden barrels to carry and and axes, bow and arrows. Only hold things. Baskets are light important men, like kings and and strong. Here these men thegns, have swords. are carrying clay mud to build a house.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Books Belt

Monks in monasteries write and Every man wears a belt. This copy books. This is the first is a rich man’s belt with an part of the poem Beowulf. He expensive buckle. The belt was a very strong hero who carries a knife and a purse for killed monsters. coins.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Oven Ship Burial Every settlement has an oven. These men are getting ready We light a fire in it until it is to bury a king. They pull a ship hot. Then we take out the fire on land and build a house in it. and put bread in the oven to They put the dead king in with bake. all his weapons. Then they pile earth on the ship. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Carving Cooking tools This is part of a stone cross. Our carvers and painters like We cook on open wood fires. making knots in their designs. This is best done outside when the weather is good. When we do it indoors the house fills with smoke.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Distaff

Loom drinking cup for a rich feast.

ox horn

Horn, Bone and Antler We make drinking cups out of Wool horn. Bone and antler is good We spin our sheep wool on the for flutes, combs distaff then weave the woollen and needles. thread on the loom. Loom weights keep the thread tight. All our clothes are made from wool or linen. flute

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Loom Weight Dyes Silver Pennies We dye our wool thread with We need to have coins for plants before we weave cloth. trade. To get a halfpenny we cut These are some of the colours the penny in half. We cut it in we get. We get blue from woad. half again to make a farthing. Farthing=four things=four parts.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Lyre or Harp

We play the lyre or harp by plucking it. We make one from Helmet wood and animal gut. Singers This is a king’s helmet. It and poets like to play it on probably belonged to Raedwald feast days. They sing stories from East Anglia. It came from about heroes from the past like the Sutton Hoo ship burial. Beowulf. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf acorns

Shield Oak Forest

We stand close together and Every settlement needs a lot of make a wall with our shields. wood. We make our houses and They protect us from arrows and tools from wood. We burn wood spears. We make shields from to cook and to make iron. Our leather and wood. pigs love to eat acorns.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Plough part of a pig to make a football

coulter/cutter

Pigs We drive our pigs into the forest every day. They eat acorns You need strong oxen and a lot and grow fat quickly. At night of human help to plough a field. we keep them indoors so that A plough has a cutter/coulter to wolves can’t catch them. We slice a straight line and a share use every part of the pig. The made of iron to turn the soil bladder makes a good football. upside down. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Travel

Runes Runes are good for carving on Roads are bumpy and muddy. You stones. We leave rune messages need good shoes to walk a long about famous people and famous way. Travel is slow and hard. We events. Can you write a message wish we had an ox to pull this with runes? cart.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Harvest Food Everyone helps with the harvest. We grow all our food on our Here we are threshing the grain farms. Leeks are the only green out of the wheat and rye. Then things to eat in winter. If the the grain is ground into flour. harvest is bad, we starve.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Treenware/ Woodware The bodger makes these bowls and Trousers tools out of green wood on a pole These trousers are made of lathe. We wait for wool. They take a very long time them to grow hard to make so have to last a long before we use time. pole lathe them. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Burh This is a fortified place to go when we are attacked. King Ceorl/Churl/Gebur Alfred built burhs all across his kingdom. A burh usually has a A ceorl is a free man. He gets mint to make coins. Craftsman land from his thegn. He has to and traders started to live in fight in the fyrd/army and help burhs. build bridges and burhs. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Ealdorman

Thegn/Thane

A thegn is a free man. He gets Bryghtnoth was an ealdorman in land from his ealdorman. He East Anglia. He fought against gives land to ceorls. He has to the Danes at the Battle of fight in the fyrd/army and help Maldon with his thegns and build bridges and burhs. ceorls. He was a king’s companion. He gets his land from the king. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf This ceorl is plucking Queens, Kings and Bretwalda wool off a sheep. He pulls the wool. He This is Queen Aethelflaed and does not need to cut King Penda. There were many it. The wool is then queens and kings. The main kings washed, spun and were called bretwalda They Sheep woven into cloth. often fought against each other. They had strong companions, Wool from aethelings and earldormen to England is sent help them. all over Europe.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Edgar Aetheling was proclaimed king in 1066 after Harold was killed. William became king and Edgar escaped to Scotland.

Aethelings/Princes Witan We are related to kings and have ancestors who were kings. We We are a group of important receive gifts and are part of the ealdormen, thegns and bishops. household. We agree to support We help the king make good the current king. One of us will choices. We also help to choose become the next king. We often a new king from the aethelings. fight each other.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Slave/Theow/Thrall Merchant

I am a slave. I work on a farm. I am a merchant. I travel on I do a lot of weaving of woollen the rivers in a boat from burh cloth. I am good with herbs for to burh. I go to the markets healing. People give me money and sell salt, beads, spices and for my herbs. precious items. I pay the king money to use the market.

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Quernstone Jewellery

glass beads arm rings

disc brooches

This is a quernstone. It is made of hard, black rock. It grinds wheat into flour. It We are precious items. Everyone comes from Germany over a likes to wear jewellery or give thousand miles away. it to others to seal friendship. When people die, we bury them with their jewels. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Eel Trap Church

This church was built in the burh I am a fisherman and this of Bradford. It is my eel trap. The eel goes was part of a monastery which in the hole to eat the juicy started around piece of meat and cannot get 705CE. Aldhelm, out. I sell my eels in the burh Bishop of market. I have to give the king Sherborne, set it some money for each sale. up. http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf Tally sticks for the geld Archbishop Wulfstan under More things Aethelred

http://www.collaborativelearning.org/anglosaxonintroduceme.pdf