Year 6 The Vikings: how did Viking settlement change Britain? worksheet

“Aethelflaed: Defender of Mercia” is free to print, with no account. It is the first sheet in the Year 6 history unit “The Vikings: how did Viking settlement change Britain?”, for children aged 10 to 11, and takes about 20 minutes.

Print it on A4. The child's pages come first; the answers, and what each wrong answer tells you, are on the grown-up page that follows. Weeks 13 to 18 of the year, 6 sheets in the unit.

Free sample · answers on the last page

Aethelflaed: Defender of Mercia

Name: ____________ · Date: ____________
Year 6 · History · about 20 minutes
Answers are on the grown-up page

Today I can explain how Aethelflaed led and defended Mercia after her husband died.

A Look back3 min

1.
The Viking raid on Lindisfarne was in CE.
2.
Alfred became king in 871 CE. The Lindisfarne raid was in 793 CE. How many years apart?
3.
Write < or > in the box: 793 871

B Watch me, then you4 min

Aethelflaed's life has key dates. Put them on a timeline to see the order.

A small walled Anglo-Saxon town on a grassy hill, with a timber fence and houses inside

Watch me

886 is the earliest date, so it goes first.

909 comes before 911, so it goes next.

The order is 886, 909, 911.

Now you

1.
Number each event in date order, 1 to 4. Aethelred's health got much worse in 902.
1. Aethelred dies and Aethelflaed rules alone
2. Alfred gives London to Aethelred
3. Saint Oswald's remains are moved
4. Aethelred's health gets much worse

C Your turn6 min

Read each question and choose the answer from the cards.

A timber gate in a fence on top of an earth bank, with a deep ditch in front

1.
Who was called the Lady of Mercia after 911?
AethelflaedGuthrumAlfredAethelred
2.
Alfred made a deal with a Viking leader in 886 to split England between them. Who was the Viking leader?
GuthrumAethelredAlfredOswald
3.
What did Aethelflaed help build to protect people from Viking attack?
a burha pyramida longshipa roundhouse
4.
In which year did Aethelred die?
886902909911

Say it out loud: What did Aethelflaed do after 911 that shows she was a leader in her own right?

D Spot the mistake3 min

Old stone walls of a Roman town with a gateway, seen from outside

Lou says: “Aethelflaed was only Aethelred’s wife, so she had no power of her own.”

1.
Why is Lou wrong? Write two sentences.

E Think deeper4 min

A deep ditch and a steep earth bank with a timber fence on top, seen from the side

1.
Design your own burh for a town by a river. Draw it, label three features, then write two sentences on how it keeps attackers out.

How did it feel?

I can do it Nearly Not yet

For the grown-up

Aethelflaed: Defender of Mercia · 2 minutes to read

Answers, and what a wrong one tells you

A

1. 793

2. 78 If your child wrote 1664, they added the two years. To find years apart, take the smaller year from the bigger one.

3. <

B

1. 1 Alfred gives London to Aethelred · 2 Aethelred's health gets much worse · 3 Saint Oswald's remains are moved · 4 Aethelred dies and Aethelflaed rules alone If your child put Aethelred dying first, ask which date is the latest. The last event on the timeline is always the latest date.

C

1. Aethelflaed If your child chose Aethelred, he was her husband and died in 911. Ask who ruled Mercia alone after that.

2. Guthrum If your child chose Aethelred, he was a Mercian lord, not a Viking. Guthrum was the Viking leader who made the deal with Alfred.

3. a burh If your child chose a longship, ask what a longship was used for. A burh was a defended place for people to live in.

4. 911 If your child chose 909, that is the year Saint Oswald's remains were moved. Find the year Aethelflaed became ruler alone.

D

1. Look for: Says she ruled Mercia alone after Aethelred died, or led its defences, so she had her own power. If your child only repeats that she was a wife, ask: what did she do after 911? Look for her leadership in the story.

E

1. Look for: Labelled features such as a ditch, bank or fence, and a reason these would keep attackers out.

Words to use

Say“Who was making the decisions in Mercia after 911? What did she build to keep people safe?”

Instead of“She was only the king’s daughter, so she probably didn’t do much.”

After the sheet

Line up five cups for 886, 902, 909, 911 and 793. Ask your child to say what happened at each one, then put them in date order.

Tick what your child got right in StudyDen. Anything missed comes back in a later Look back box, so there's no need to redo the sheet.

The rest of this unit

5 more sheets come with a StudyDen plan, in teaching order:

Building England, town by town(with a plan)
Who Gets Written Down?(with a plan)
How Athelstan Made England(with a plan)
Who ruled England when?(with a plan)
How the Vikings Changed Britain(with a plan)

Every Year 6 history worksheet

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