by Fran Allfrey, Beth Whalley, and Carl Kears
We created this Word Hoard Worksheet as a template to make it easy to bring Old English poetry into the classroom.
Old English poetry is sometimes called ‘Anglo-Saxon’ poetry on the UK curriculum, and we have used this name on the worksheet.
The worksheet helps to lead children through several building blocks of a creative History or English lesson.
It starts with early medieval letter forms that children can use in their own writing.
Next, there is space for a completed Word Hoard flashcards activity. Click here to find templates for cards printed with Old English and modern English that children can match together to build their Old English vocabulary.
There are four boxes for children to write down sensory sentences about what they might see or hear in their poem. For example, if this is going to be a battle poem, think about the objects and people you might see, or the landscapes you might be in.
Amazing alliteration! Old English poetry is famous for its alliteration. Children can make alliterative sentences using their sensory words.
Kennings. Kennings are compound words (two words joined together to make a single word, often joined with a hyphen). They describe something or someone by combining two characteristics. For instance ‘seal-bath’ for ‘sea’.
Download the blank Word Hoard Worksheet below.
Teaching Old English in schools 