As part of our end-of-unit “living history” classes, Year 5 dressed up as Anglo Saxon warriors, farmers and royalty, while Year 6 dressed up as Viking warriors. Anglo-Saxon village life (and Viking village life) was also recreated, complete with a thatched roof cottage made of cardboard and string, and all the things that these Dark Ages people used to survive and thrive: a “cast iron” pot on a nice big fire, an old-fashioned “wooden” washboard for laundry, a wheat grinder for making flour, lots of textile “logs” for making fire, a cardboard “spinning wheel” for making cloth, a small collection of “farm animals” (stuffed toys) for meat and milk products, a forge for making things out of iron, and plenty more! The students enjoyed pretending to live on an Anglo-Saxon/ Viking farm, and battling it out with each other in their reenactment of Viking – Anglo Saxon incursions … and they did such a nice job explaining who they were and why they think and behave the way they do. We also had a monk (played by the teacher) and a bishop, responsible for the many conversions to Christianity during the early Middle Ages, and plenty of kings and queens, like King Raedwald (whose helmet is believed to be amongst the Sutton Hoo treasure hoard – a helmet was recreated by Year 5) and Queen Aethelfleda, who led the Anglo Saxon warriors into battle against the Vikings. We reenacted battles, truces and negotiations between leaders, typical Middle Ages village life and plenty more! Nothing better for learning history than role-play which inspires historical empathy, and understanding our past.
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