History · Year 5

Active learning ideas

The Burh System

Active learning works well for this topic because students need to grasp both the strategic planning and everyday life in Anglo-Saxon England. Building models or simulating decisions helps them see Alfred’s system as more than just facts on a page, making the 33 burhs and their 20-mile rule memorable and meaningful.

• National Curriculum Attainment Targets
• KS2: History - Viking and Anglo-Saxon struggle for the Kingdom of England
• KS2: History - Settlements and Land Use

• 25–50 min
• Pairs → Whole Class
• 3 activities

Activity 01

• Inquiry Circle
• 50 min · Small Groups

Inquiry Circle: Design a Burh

Groups are given a 'site' (e.g., a river bend or an old Roman ruin). They must design a burh, deciding where to put the walls, the gates, the market, and the church. They must explain how their design makes the town easy to defend but also a good place for people to live and trade.

Explain how the burhs worked as a defensive system.

Facilitation Tip

During Collaborative Investigation: Design a Burh, circulate with a timer so groups stay on task and allocate roles like architect, merchant, or defender to ensure everyone contributes.

What to look for

Provide students with a map showing a hypothetical Viking landing site and a few potential locations for a new burh. Ask them to circle the best location and write two sentences explaining why it is strategically advantageous for defense.

• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Self-Management
• Self-Awareness

Activity 02

• Simulation Game
• 40 min · Small Groups

Simulation Game: The 20-Mile Rule

On a large map of Wessex, students place 'burh' markers. They use string to draw 20-mile circles around each one. They then 'attack' different points on the map with Viking pieces to see if the local farmers could reach a burh before being caught, demonstrating the effectiveness of the network.

Analyze how many of these burhs became modern English towns.

Facilitation Tip

In Simulation: The 20-Mile Rule, set up a simple grid on the floor where students physically move and measure distances to reinforce the practicality of Alfred’s strategy.

What to look for

Ask students to hold up fingers to represent the number of men needed to defend a small burh versus a large one, based on information from the Burghal Hidage. Then, ask them to verbally explain the difference in defensive requirement.

• Apply
• Analyze
• Evaluate
• Create
• Social Awareness
• Decision-Making

Activity 03

• Think-Pair-Share
• 25 min · Pairs

Think-Pair-Share: Why live in a Burh?

Students think about the pros and cons of moving from a lonely farm into a crowded, walled burh. They discuss in pairs, considering themes like safety vs. space, and then share whether they would have made the move if they lived in the 9th century.

Justify why a permanent navy was also necessary for defense.

Facilitation Tip

For Think-Pair-Share: Why live in a Burh?, provide sentence starters like ‘I would live in a burh because...’ to scaffold responses for hesitant students.

What to look for

Pose the question: 'If you were Alfred, would you prioritize building more burhs or a stronger navy? Why?' Encourage students to justify their answers by referencing the defensive challenges faced by Anglo-Saxon England.

• Understand
• Apply
• Analyze
• Self-Awareness
• Relationship Skills

A few notes on teaching this unit

Teaching this topic works best when you connect geography to strategy and trade to daily life. Avoid presenting the burhs as static forts; instead, emphasize their dual role as safe havens and bustling markets. Research shows that hands-on construction and role play help students retain both the military and economic aspects of Alfred’s plan.

Students will show they understand Alfred’s planning by designing a functional burh, explaining its defensive advantages, and recognizing its role as a trading center. Success looks like clear reasoning, teamwork, and creative problem-solving using historical evidence.

---

Watch Out for These Misconceptions

• During Collaborative Investigation: Design a Burh, watch for students who design a burh with only thick walls and no market stalls or coin mints.

  Prompt groups to include labeled areas for trade and coin production, reminding them that Alfred wanted burhs to be both safe and economically thriving.

• During Collaborative Investigation: Design a Burh, watch for students who assume the walls were made of stone like later castles.

  Provide clay or sand and challenge students to first build a low, wide earth bank topped with a wooden palisade to reflect the real materials used in Alfred’s time.

---

Methods used in this brief

• Inquiry Circle
• Simulation Game
• Think-Pair-Share