Resources: Pens, pencils, scissors and glue
Research tool: The handout provides information about Alfred's children, to be used with the challenge handout.
Support Handout (1): The handout provides information about Alfred’s life, which can be sorted in a table showing two categories: ‘great’ and ‘not-so-great’.
Core Handout (2): The handout provides information about Alfred’s life, which can be sorted in a table showing two categories: ‘great’ and ‘not-so-great’. There is also space to write an explanation about whether they feel Alfred deserves his title.
Stretch Handout (3): The handout provides a table, and asks the children to write their own information about Alfred’s life in the ‘great’ and ‘not-so-great’ columns. There is also space to write an explanation of whether they feel Alfred deserves his title.
Challenge Handout (4): The handout provides a fact file for children to record information about Alfred's children.
Use the starter slides to ask the children which Norse gods they can recall. Ask the children whether they can recall what the gods were responsible for.
Use the presentation slides to explore the story of Alfred the Great and how he managed Viking attacks during his reign. The children will revisit their learning about the Lindisfarne raid, and learn that the Vikings continued to raid England after this. They will understand how Alfred fought back against the Great Heathen Army of Vikings, and how Danelaw was established in England. They will also begin to understand other parts of Alfred’s reign that contributed to his legacy.
Using the handouts, ask the children to cut and sort the information about Alfred into a table, identifying which parts of his life make him ‘great’ or ‘not-so-great’. Once they have done this, ask the children to write a paragraph explaining whether they feel Alfred deserves his title, using evidence from the table to justify their answer.
Challenge Task: Ask the children to research Alfred’s children, to see how they continued his legacy, and record this in a fact file on the handout provided. They can research this using the internet, books, or use the research tool handout that Developing Experts has provided.
Ask the children to share their decision paragraphs. Do they all agree? If there is a difference in opinion, a debate could be held between opposing sides, using their tables to support their ideas.
Teacher Mastery
After the first Viking raid at Lindisfarne in 793 CE, Viking attacks on England continued and increased in scale, eventually leading to the arrival of the Great Heathen Army in the mid-ninth century. Alfred the Great was king of Wessex, the last remaining Anglo-Saxon kingdom not conquered by the Vikings, and he played a key role in resisting Viking control. After suffering early defeats, Alfred regrouped and successfully fought back, most notably at the Battle of Edington in 878 CE. This led to a treaty with the Viking leader Guthrum, which established the Danelaw, a large area of England under Viking control, while Alfred retained authority over the south and west. Beyond warfare, Alfred strengthened England’s defences by building fortifications, known as burhs, reorganised the army, encouraged learning and education, and supported the translation of important texts into English, all of which contributed to his lasting legacy and the reason he is remembered as “the Great.”
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