Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf'
I can describe some key features of Anglo-Saxon culture and how these are reflected in ‘Beowulf’ and I can explore the structure of the narrative in ‘Beowulf’.
Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf'
I can describe some key features of Anglo-Saxon culture and how these are reflected in ‘Beowulf’ and I can explore the structure of the narrative in ‘Beowulf’.
These resources will be removed by end of Summer Term 2025.
Lesson details
Key learning points
- Beowulf was written by Anglo-Saxons in England about events in Scandinavia.
- The story refers to some historical figures, but lots of the story is fictional.
- In Anglo-Saxon society, warriors were highly respected. We can see evidence of this in 'Beowulf'.
- The overall story focuses on the 'problem' of Beowulf's quest for fame.
- The story is made up of three mini-stories, each with their own story structure.
Keywords
Anglo-Saxons - the European people who settled in what is now England, following the end of Roman occupation
Culture - the ideas, customs and behaviour of a particular people or society
Story structure - the underlying structure of a narrative that gives it a logical and coherent order
Common misconception
Pupils may find it difficult to see the distinction between the overall story structure and the structure of the mini-stories.
As pupils will be writing events from only one mini-story in this unit, focus on the idea of each of these as a complete, resolved story in itself. The larger, overall structure is less significant for our writing in this unit.
To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs...
To help you plan your year 6 english lesson on: Understanding the historical context and the plot of 'Beowulf', download all teaching resources for free and adapt to suit your pupils' needs.
The starter quiz will activate and check your pupils' prior knowledge, with versions available both with and without answers in PDF format.
We use learning cycles to break down learning into key concepts or ideas linked to the learning outcome. Each learning cycle features explanations with checks for understanding and practice tasks with feedback. All of this is found in our slide decks, ready for you to download and edit. The practice tasks are also available as printable worksheets and some lessons have additional materials with extra material you might need for teaching the lesson.
The assessment exit quiz will test your pupils' understanding of the key learning points.
Our video is a tool for planning, showing how other teachers might teach the lesson, offering helpful tips, modelled explanations and inspiration for your own delivery in the classroom. Plus, you can set it as homework or revision for pupils and keep their learning on track by sharing an online pupil version of this lesson.
Explore more key stage 2 english lessons from the 'Beowulf': narrative writing unit, dive into the full secondary english curriculum, or learn more about lesson planning.
Licence
Lesson video
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Starter quiz
6 Questions
with his bare hands
with a sword he finds
with a dagger