This paper examines the application of TEXT-BREAKER to a year 3 class being taught a history text in the Literacy hour. The context was the Romans, Anglo-Saxons and Vikings in Britain Study Unit of the National Curriculum for History (DFE, 1995). Within our scheme of work we have used TEXT-BREAKER to give pupils access to a range of challenging texts including the Anglo- Saxon poem The Ruin, Bede’s graphic account of the conversion of the king of Northumbria to christianity and passages from Beowulf that describe the burial of Scyld, a Danish prince and Beowulf. Previously without TEXTBREAKER we would have considered these texts as being too difficult to use with our classes.