The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension

Year 5 HistoryVikings and Anglo-Saxons6 pages

About this worksheet

A reading comprehension for Year 5 history about the Viking raid on Lindisfarne. The passage, When the Sea Brought Strangers, opens with a monk copying a book by hand. It then explains the tidal crossing to Holy Island, the monastery founded in 635, and the raid on 8 June 793. Ten questions follow in three groups: Retrieve, Infer, and Evaluate and Respond. Later questions ask about Alcuin's letters and why historians should be careful with Christian writers' accounts. The sheet runs to six pages, including model answers. It follows the England National Curriculum.

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The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 1
The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 2
The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 3
The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 4
The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 5
The Lindisfarne Raid Reading Comprehension: Vikings and Anglo-Saxons - page 6

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Curriculum objectives covered

Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

“The Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England to the time of Edward the Confessor”

Partly met. The sheet covers one early event, the 793 raid, and does not go on to the later struggle for England.

Vikings and Anglo-Saxons

“Viking raids and invasion”

The whole passage is about the raid on Lindisfarne, and question 8 asks how historians know what happened.

What's inside this worksheet

When the Sea Brought Strangers

A six-paragraph passage, set for 20 to 30 minutes, about the monastery, the raiders from Scandinavia and the alarm the raid caused.

Retrieve

Questions 1 to 4 ask for the island's other name, the date of the raid, two things the monks did and a true or false question about the tide.

Infer

Questions 5 to 8 cover the word accessible, why raiders chose a monastery, Alcuin's feelings and the limits of the written accounts.

Evaluate and Respond

Question 9 asks how far pupils agree that the sea was only a danger, and question 10 asks why the writer opens with a monk copying a book.

How teachers use it

Map first

Show Lindisfarne and Scandinavia on a map before reading, so the sea crossing in the third paragraph makes sense.

Whose story

Question 8 is a good moment to talk about who wrote events down in 793 and whose side we never hear.

Guided reading

Read the passage together in one session and use Retrieve and Infer for discussion. Save questions 9 and 10 for written answers.

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