Henry VIII and his Six Wives ( an agony aunt's advice!)

This resource enables students to work in a group to use 'problem' letters written by Henry VIII to an agony aunt asking for advice on each of his marriages. Students select a letter and extract information on the reasons why Henry married each wife, the 'problems/issues' the marriage faced and what happened to the marriage. Students can then pool their individual information to complete a grid to summarise each marriage. The work can be easily differentiated by highlighting key words and phrases in each agony aunt letter to allow less able students to extract the relevant information. Extension opportunities are available in the form of an extended piece of writing of a letter from one of Henry's wives to the agony aunt. There is also the opportunity to complete a dating profile for Henry in Tudor Dating. Starter activities link back to work published here looking at the personality of Henry VIII and the plenary asks students to identify each wife from facts about them.