Year 4 - History
Year 4 - History
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Introduction
At Eastfield, we aim for our children to develop passion and curiosity for finding out about the past. We use the Collins Connected history scheme to ensure children receive a structured but ambitious curriculum. Vocabulary and talk play a central role within history teaching and learning so our pupils can talk like historians.
Who were the Anglo-Saxons and how do we know what was important to them?
Who were the Anglo-Saxons and how do we know what was important to them?
Introduction
We have been learning about the Anglo Saxons in our history lessons this half term. The Anglo-Saxon period spans the time between the end of the Roman occupation in Britain and the Battle of Hastings in 1066 – over 600 years! We have been learning about some important changes that occurred in Britain during the Anglo-Saxon era, where they originated from and how they lived. Here is some more information and pictures to tell you about what we have learnt ...
Keywords we used:
Barbarian Pagan Roman Catholicism Pope
conversion Sutton Hoo kingdom
The Roman soldiers left Britain and Britain was a lot weaker and more vulnerable to attack. In fact, several of the tribes the Romans referred to as Barbarians had been attacking Britain for many years before the Romans withdrew. Now they saw their big chance. Soon, tribes of Angles, Saxons and Jutes began to invade from Northern Europe. The largest of these three tribes were the Angles and Saxons, so they became known as the Anglo-Saxons. They originated from the lands that now form modern-day Denmark, the Netherlands and Germany.
Anglo-Saxons who settled in Britain didn’t choose to live in the towns that the Romans had designed so carefully and subsequently left behind. Instead, they chose to construct their own settlements (places in which to live) in the countryside.
We investigated both primary and secondary sources to find out information about why the Romans left Britain.
We used the app Chatterpix on the iPads to record what we thought Emperor Honorius might have said to the people of Britannia (Britain) as the Romans went back to Italy.
Here is an example of one of our videos:
IMG_0404.mp4Through looking at primary resources, we learnt how and why the Anglo-Saxons converted to Christianity from Paganism. We thought about the positive and negative effects of converting and why the poor people might not have enjoyed becoming Christians.
We researched the kinds of settlements the Anglo Saxons lived in, what their homes were like and the work they did.
We investigated the ship burial at Sutton-Hoo. We looked at images of artefacts that were buried and predicted what they might have been used for and why those objects were buried there.
Why were castles so important to the Normans?
Why were castles so important to the Normans?
Introduction
During this unit we were understanding why the Normans built so many castles after conquering Britain in 1066.
Keywords we used:
Invasion Conquer Normans Medieval Feudal System Serf Commoner Knight Noble Intimidate Deterrent Chronicle
To start our unit, we investigated how, when and why the Norman's came to Britain to begin to understand why castles were important to them.
We researched and investigated the primary source that is the Bayeux Tapestry. Like a jigsaw puzzle, we tried to put the different pieces of the tapestry together just using the images.
We then looked at how we know what Norman castles might have been like. We used a primary source that described castles of the time and used the information to draw what we thought castles might look like.
We used our reading and comprehension skills to answer questions on a non fiction text about Norman castles and we finished our Norman Castles topic by researching about jobs that might have been carried out in a Norman castles. We spent time in our computing lesson researching and writing the end of a given story about two young boys working in The Tower of London in Norman times. Please scan the QR code to read our fantastic works of fiction based on facts from life in a Norman castle.
What did the Vikings want and how did Alfred help to stop them getting it?
What was the 'terror' that appeared in Britain on June 8th 793?
The people responsible for the attack are now known as 'The Vikings'. However, at the time they would have been called 'Men of the North' or 'Norsemen'. They were made up of men from many different tribes, but they shared beliefs and religion.
The first Viking raid on Britain took place on the Holy Island of Lindisfarne (off the coast of Northumbria). The Vikings targeted the priory of St Cuthbert. Why do you think they chose this place?
Why was the design of their longships so important to the Vikings?
The longship is an iconic symbol of the Viking age. The Vikings were talented ship makers and designed their ships very carefully.
Why do you think these features of the long boat were useful?
The wooden planks of the hull (the bottom, sides and deck of the ship) overlapped rather than being joined by placing their ends together;
Shallow draft – the bottom of the ship was less than one meter below the waterline;
Long and narrow and a very light weight;
Symmetrical or double ended with both the bow (forward) and stern (end) of the ship being identical in shape;
A single mast which could be taken down and stowed away quickly;
A single square rigged cloth sail made of woven wool;
At least sixteen oars on both the port and starboard sides
What were the two treasures that most Viking Norsemen wanted from Britain?
Raids by Viking ships around the coast of Britain continued for about 70 years. Christian churches and monasteries were popular targets!
This was because the monks were undefended (they were unarmed and had no weapons) and often contained items made of gold, silver and precious stones!
From about 865, things began to change. Rather than small groups of Vikings raiding and then sailing away with stolen valuables, much larger groups of ordinary Norsemen brought their families to Britain looking for something more valuable than gold and treasure.
As a class we thought about the following questions:
Why would so many Norsemen from Norway have wanted to move with their families to Britain?
Most Norsemen were farmers, rather than adventuring Vikings participating in raids on Britain. What was the great attraction for these farmers and their families?
How does the climate of Lincolnshire compare with that of Hamar?
We found out compared to Norway Lincolnshire is much warmer throughout the year and there are no months when the average temperature falls below freezing. In addition, there are only four months when the average temperature is lower than 6 °C, which means that there is an eight-month growing season (once the average temperature drops below 6 °C anywhere in the world, vegetation stops growing).
Precipitation (moisture that falls from the atmosphere in any form, for example rain, snow,hail, dew, frost) is heavier in Lincolnshire, but it rarely falls as snow because the climate is never that cold in winter. Compare that with Hamar, whose average temperatures arebelow freezing (0 °C) for six months of the year, and its five-month growing season and severe winters with very heavy snowfall.
Most (90 per cent) of Norway is mountainous, so farming is only possible along very narrow and restricted areas of flat land close to the sea. Lincolnshire, on the other hand, is very flat, with no point higher than 76 metres. So, most Viking Norsemen were farmers and the two treasures they wanted most from Britain were a much warmer and temperate climate than they were used to and plenty of
flat and fertile land to occupy and farm. They wanted to steal Britain’s land and climate!
Viking farmers settled down in tens of thousands across the red areas of Britain shown on the map .
We identified this on maps of the UK
Viking Norsemen built farmhouses to live in
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