Anglo-Saxons Whole Class Reading Bundle!

This engaging bundle of five whole-class reading sessions develops children’s understanding of Anglo-Saxon Britain, while strengthening their fluency and comprehension when reading non-fiction texts.

Each lesson includes an original, illustrated two-page reading text and an accompanying 12-slide PowerPoint, providing a varied sequence of activities with enough depth for approximately 60-90 minutes of learning.

The five lessons are:

1. Who Were the Anglo-Saxons?
2. Everyday Anglo-Saxon Life: Homes, Work and Family
3. Sutton Hoo: Secrets of an Anglo-Saxon Burial
4. Anglo-Saxon Beliefs: Gods, Monks and Christianity
5. Kings and Kingdoms: The Making of England

Together, the lessons explore the people, beliefs and changes that shaped Anglo-Saxon Britain. Children discover why settlers came to Britain, investigate everyday life and examine what the remarkable discoveries at Sutton Hoo reveal about the past. They trace the spread of Christianity and explore how rival kingdoms gradually became England, including the contributions of Alfred, Æthelflæd and Æthelstan.

Each session includes a vocabulary check to clarify unfamiliar language, followed by activities developing retrieval, explanation, inference, comparison, evaluation, sequencing and summarising skills. Quick-check questions, solo thinking, partner discussions and deeper-thinking challenges encourage children to justify their answers with evidence.

Suggested answers, support prompts and teacher guidance are provided in the slide notes.

All five Word reading texts and PowerPoint presentations are fully editable.

Best suited to Years 4-5, the sessions can also be adapted for other year groups. Ideal for linking purposeful reading comprehension with an Anglo-Saxon history unit.