Why the Anglo-Saxons Came to Britain Writing Task

Year 4 HistoryAnglo-Saxons and Scots3 pages

About this worksheet

A Year 4 history writing task for the England National Curriculum unit on Anglo-Saxon settlement. It opens with a model PEEL paragraph about flooding in northern Germany and southern Scandinavia pushing families to look for farmland. Pupils then write two paragraphs of their own. The first, on the Roman departure, has sentence starters for each part. The second asks whether Vortigern's paid soldiers came to help or to take land, with no starters. The answer key gives model paragraphs that name Emperor Honorius, Hengist and Horsa, and land in Kent.

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Curriculum objectives covered

Britain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scots

โ€œBritain's settlement by Anglo-Saxons and Scotsโ€

The model and both tasks deal with why the Anglo-Saxons came. The Scots are not on the sheet.

What's inside this worksheet

Why the Anglo-Saxons Came to Britain

A worked example with each part labelled Point, Evidence, Explain and Link, beside a picture of a longship crossing the North Sea.

Practice 1: The Roman Departure

Pupils finish four sentence starters, beginning with in AD 410, Roman soldiers left Britain because.

Practice 2: Defenders or Invaders?

Pupils write a full PEEL paragraph on whether the Anglo-Saxons came as Vortigern's paid soldiers or to take land for themselves.

How teachers use it

Model it first

Read the flooding paragraph aloud and ask pupils to tell you which sentence is the Evidence.

Two-day writing

Do Practice 1 with the starters on one day, then Practice 2 the next, once pupils know the structure.

Hot seat

Before Practice 2, put a pupil in the chair as Vortigern and let the class ask why he invited the warriors.

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