Steven McCormick

December 14, 2015

ESE6345
Interdisciplinary Lesson Plan Historical Vignette
Part I Description of Classroom Context
This lesson will take place within the context of my classroom at a middle school, at
which I am teaching my first year. My class is a life science classroom, but I refer to it as our
laboratory, and students are expected to conduct themselves accordingly.
The classroom rules are consistent with a science laboratory, with a few exceptions. As a
rule, students are not allowed to eat or drink inside the classroom at any time, because of the risk
of contamination by chemicals we use in the laboratory exercises. Chewing gum is also not
permitted for safety reasons. On some occasions, exceptions are made, and I make it a point to
clearly model procedures that ensure the safety of the class, by closing up or removing all
chemicals, having students wipe down all countertops and desks, and only under these
parameters, and with my express permission, are we allowed to consume food or drinks in my
laboratory. Students must also conduct themselves professionally and safely in my laboratory.
Students will wear goggles at all times when conducting any experiments involving chemicals or
other liquids. They will also refrain from any kind of horseplay or other distracting or otherwise
unsafe behaviors.
Reinforcements are clearly outlined for these behaviors and consequences will vary in
severity based on the context of the infraction. When an experiment is being conducted and any
danger is present, either due to chemicals, scalpels, or Bunsen burners, there will be a zero-

tolerance policy for any kind of unsafe behavior. Students will be asked to desist from
participating in the experiment and will be given an alternative assignment. Each day will be
considered a new day, and students will always have an opportunity to correct behaviors and be
trusted again with the privilege of participating in experiments. Additionally, I will maintain a
clear control and administer adjudication based on each situation personally, depending on the
relationship and background of the student. In all circumstances, it will always be the focus to
restore students to a place of trust and participation, and that will also be based on my
responsibility to reflect on each situation. (Kennedy) Under non-experiment circumstances,
professional behavior will be still expected, but I will give students warnings and appropriate
pre-correction and correction behaviors, as well as modeling good behaviors.
Supplementary, these rules and expectations are posted on an attractive looking poster in
my room, and students have been made aware of these rules through consistent review of them
as necessary. To further protect them and myself, I also printed out a contract at the beginning of
the year that students had to read and sign, and they also had to take it home to have their
parent/guardian sign and return to me. I signed it as well and they are kept in a bin where
students can refer to them at any time. I also keep a copy under lock and key, just to ensure no
one swipes their copy and tears it up and then claims ignorance.
Backed by the trust and stability provided by these rules and my consistency in enforcing
them, I hope to build community by treating each period as a research team from a different
organization or country, depending on the unit. This would allow me to present culturally
relevant instruction, especially without students even realizing it, which I think is important. I
would want to present a cultural flavor to each unit and allow students to experience and enjoy
the exposition of their own culture, but without feeling patronized. I would present the culture as

a relevant and important research team and place of scientific discovery, including exposure to
historical vignettes or other presentations of historical contributions of scientists from their
cultures, thus providing a cultural and social context for learning science and other crosscutting
concepts (Oakes et al).
In addition to best representing our class periods individual team culture, I would also
want to use that as an opportunity to teach nature of science principles, having each team share
data with other periods and teach replication and repetition as well as the importance of scientific
cooperation. I would also want to give any students an opportunity that wanted to share about
their own culture or even their own family experiences. This would allow me to get to know my
students better and also build good relationships between themselves, allowing me to learn about
their cultures and see it through a multifaceted and multi-focused lens encompassing as much of
each students socioeconomic status, race, behavior, language, and other demographics (Ross et
al).
For grading, I would of course have to have the permission of my principal, but I would
want to implement the A-B-I grading system for my students, using the model of Granite Junior
High School as a guide (Corbett et al). All students would be expected to have high performance,
and while special considerations would be made to provide differential instruction from my end,
the individual performance, relative to their own potential, for each student would be focused on
them achieving their maximum. This will be supplemented for my own reflection by taking notes
on students. I really would love to embrace the Daily Kidwatching Notes as outlined in the
Action Research article we studied (Williams).
In my classroom, the furniture would be arranged into groups of four, but students would
be given the opportunity to present their ideas and weigh-in on their preferences. At the

beginning of the year students would have been placed randomly, and while at this point later in
the year, I would give them more of a democratic say-so in how things are arranged, making the
classroom more their own, I also would still seat students in a hybrid style group with each
student having a face partner who is of their similar performance ability and a shoulder partner
who is of a much higher or lower performance ability (Kagan). Also, following this same vein, I
would provide engaging and exciting posters and artwork, but I would also give each period an
opportunity to create their own bulletin board, building student empowerment as well as in-class
community within periods.
As a target student for this specific lesson plan, I will be focusing on Suzie, who was
the case studied in my Ecological Student Study. Suzie is a bright and intelligent Black female
student who should be in the eighth grade, but has been held back due to health issues. As such,
she is a student at a special alternative school, which does not fit my lesson plan style. Thus, I
would like to postulate that this lesson would take place in my classroom at a mainstream public
middle school, to which Suzie is returning after catching up at the alternative school. She is a
motivated student with a very sweet demeanor, but who has become quite disenfranchised with
science and who has a much stronger preference to history and social studies.

Part II: Lesson Overview

Lesson Title: Janitor Atop the World

Grade/Subject: 8th Grade Integrated Science
Standard: SSS SC.6.E.7.2 Investigate and apply how the cycling of water between the
atmosphere and hydrosphere has an effect on weather patterns and climate.

Instructional Activities:
1. Bellringer Students will be given a question on the board to which they will write an
answer in their notebooks. The question is as follows: How do you feel your personal
circumstances would help or prevent you from being a successful scientist?
This will help draw upon prior knowledge of climate change as well as the nature of
science (Oakes et al). Subsequently, once class begins and two minutes of official class
time have been given as an opportunity to respond, students will engage in an All
Around Round-Robin (Kagan). Each portion of this will be guided using a timer on the
projector to help with pre-correction and structure as well as clarity in the form of explicit
timing (Weinstein and Novodvorksy).
2. Historical Vignette Reading My target student has a strong affinity for history and has a
strong disaffect towards science, so this helps build a bridge between content areas and
hopefully helps engage Suzies fund of knowledge of history. Students will meet and sit
in a circle on the floor for Science Storytime and then participate in a jigsaw activity
(Kagan).
3. Historical Vignette Worksheet This worksheet will be completed individually as an
assessment of what they have learned as a result of the reading and jigsaw activity. The

worksheet contains a number of higher order questions, which promotes a deeper

comprehension and synthesis of information (Brookhardt).

Part III : Snapshots

Snapshot: Focus on Classroom Management (8 minutes)
Time
Allotted

Activity

3 min

Students enter the room, sit at their

seats, take out paper and pencil, and
start on bell work.
Bellringer Question: How do you
feel your personal circumstances
would help or prevent you from
being a successful scientist?

2 min

Transition to Round Robin and

Check for Understanding

Specifically What You Will Say

and Do And How Students Will
Respond
(Pretend like this is a script for
a play)
The teacher stands at the door and
greets students warmly, while
keeping an eye on classroom
activity and correcting any
undesirable behaviors. Once the
bell rings, the teacher reminds
students that they will only have
the two minutes on the board to
complete the bellringer activity.
Once the timer has expired, the
instructions for Round Robin are
put up on the board by the
projector and the teacher calls on
two students and asks, Suzie can
you please explain what were

Justification

Students are required to recall low

information about the topic being
from the day or two before, and a
asked to connect it to their own pe
lives (Moll). Pre-correction also o
result of the classroom rules and t
the board provides explicit timing
and Novodvorsky).

This check for understanding is im

ensure all of my learners are unde
and clear as to the protocol of the
activity. Each student is academic
and many of my students are wha
other teachers would consider to b

4 min

Students engage in Timed Round

Robin

going to be doing as part of this

Round robin activity? If she
succeeds and does well, a second
student can be called upon with
the same question. If she
struggles, the teacher calls upon
another student to help out
Suzie. Then, the teacher issues a
check for understanding to ensure
Suzie is clear on what is to
happen.
Teacher instructs students to
begin their RoundRobin wherein
each group member will have one
minute to share their insights
from the bellringer activity. The
timer on the board guides the
timing of the activity At the
ringing of the timer, each time,
the teacher calls out Switch!
and students then change who is
talking and another minute is
allotted.

hopeless (Tomlinson). I refuse t

this label, thus I ensure adequate t
doled out to not only ensure conn
students but also that I am precorr
off-task behavior or confusion. M
my students are presented with an
explanation by a fellow student, a
representation of the protocols on
and a verbal explanation. All of th
learning modalities are engaged in
method (Weinstein and Novodvor
Students are seated in groups as o
Kagan. These groups are a hybrid
homogeneous pairs as shoulder pa
heterogeneous pairs as face partne
While Suzie is not hyperactive, m
classmates would be considered to
Thus, ensuring my choices of arra
classroom furniture as well as cho
for each student is important to en
success of Suzie as a more quiet a
individual (Weiner).

Justification: In this snapshot, the choice of bellringer question engages the students and allows
them to connect the content to their personal lives, this promoting a feeling of cultural relevance
in the instructions. Additionally, as students share in the Round Robin activity, they are also
building relationship, but also beginning to lay scaffolding upon which they can base the inquiry
necessary to successfully complete the next task. For classroom management purposes, however,
which is the focus of this snapshot, the relevance of the question determines how well the student
is engaged and participates. Additionally, the Round Robin activity and check for understanding
help to pre-correct behaviors and demonstrate that the students are familiar with classroom
protocols and Kagan structures.
Time
Allotted

Activity

2 min

Transition to Storytime

Specifically What You Will Say and Do

And How Students Will Respond
(Pretend like this is a script for a play)
Teacher says, Ok class! Its time for
Science Storytime! Go ahead and circle
up in the front of the room around the
Storytime Stool and get comfy!

Justification

This is a well-structured an
practiced transition from a
management standpoint, b
allows students a few minu

out of their Kagan groups

with someone new or a frie
whom they are more famil
(Kagan).
3 min

Teacher reads the historical

vignette to the students.

Teacher puts on the Storytime Science

Hat and reads the historical vignette to
the class. (See Attached Vignette)

7 min

Students ask questions and share

their individual impressions.

Once the story has ended, the teacher

asks the students if they have any
questions or if they have anything from
the bellringer activity that they would
like to share with the class in light of the
story we just read.

This presents a cozy and fu

scenario and setting for ins
but also allows for relation
building as it takes away s
the rigid structure normall
the classroom and allows s
to exercise the trust given
by the teacher, especially t
students whose behaviors a
reframed and new trust is b
built (Kennedy).
This has its fingers in all th
components of successful
classroom instruction and
management, but it specifi
allows each student the op
to share about their curren
experiences and also allow
students to engage their cr
side and to enjoy learning
science, history, culture, an
especially each other (Tom

Snapshot: Focus on Relationships (12 minutes)

Justification: The use of the historical vignette, firstly, engages the crosscutting technique of
utilizing multiple content areas to teach a concept. It also demonstrates sensitivity to culture and
students FKFR. Giving students the freedom to choose their seats for 10 minutes of class time
depends heavily on effective classroom management, moreover building upon conflict resolution
and relationship building techniques. This is all supplemental to the original focus of relationship
building between students where a more intimate and safe environment is presented to encourage
sharing of personal and cultural experiences. Additionally, the story itself contains a lot of
scandal and disadvantage being overcome to achieve success. The main characters experiences

could very easily mirror some of the components of students environments, circumstances, and
disadvantages, especially Suzie, who lives in poverty, and has a strong family connection.

Time
Allotted

Activity

Specifically What You Will Say and Do

And How Students Will Respond
(Pretend like this is a script for a play)
Students are cued that the environment is
changing again and returning from an
informal setting to a more formal group
setting, preparing them for collaborative
learning, with which they are familiar.
Students are given a timer with 2
minutes.

2 min

Return to groups

8 min

Jigsaw Activity

The teacher then puts up a slide and tells

students to observe what role they will
be taking on for the jigsaw activity. Once
roles are clear students then split off into
their expert groups to discuss different
parts of the historical vignette that was
read to them. They will also each be
given a copy of the vignette for review.

10 min

Vignette Worksheet

When there is about 12-15 minutes of

class time left, the teacher then instructs
students to work individually and
complete the worksheet given to them.
This will serve as a formative assessment
and gives individual accountability for
each student to ensure no student is able
to escape class without learning the
target lesson.

Snapshot: Focus on Curriculum and Instruction (20 minutes)

Justification

Students need to be back in

groups for collaborative ac
like the jigsaw they will be
(Kagan). Additionally, the
pace and setting can provid
energizing effect and allow
mental restart, which will h
focus. Additionally, the tim
provides explicit timing (W
and Novodvorksy).
Jigsaw activities allow stud
participate in expert group
work together with others
information. Then they ret
their home base groups an
the information they got fr
expert groups. This allows
to teach each other and rei
information given by the te
during the story time readi
(Kagan). This instruction s
echoes how my target stud
Suzie learns at home, wher
everything is focused arou
family.
This activity forces my stu
including Suzie to reinforc
they learn in the reading w
order questions (Brookhar
Additionally, this provides
scaffolding for learning an
and it also provides person
accountability for each stu
Finally, from a continuing
instruction standpoint, it al
me a formative assessment
which I can build addition
scaffolding in tailoring the
for the subsequent day, wh
encouraging fun and creati
still instructing and assessi
the standards required. (T

Justification: In this snapshot, the main structure of the instruction occurs, but it is done
collaboratively. Since the inquiry is teacher-facilitated, it frees me up to ensure classroom
management occurs efficiently, and it also allows me to circulate and build relationships and
connections with each student or group of students. Much of the cognitive load for the lesson is
given to the students and this also frees me up to do more facilitating and redirecting off-task
behavior, since the students are teaching each other. This builds relationships between students,
allows me to build relationships with them, allows me to manage behavior and learning
effectively, and, as is the focus of this snapshot, it also allows for effective instruction to occur! It
also allows for scaffolding, gradual release of responsibility when paired with the story time, and
finally allows for formative assessment upon which I can build the subsequent lessons.
Additionally, this supplements the story time by continuing to engage students in the history of
science and development of theory by an unlikely scientist.

Bibliography
Brookhart, S.M. (2010). How to Assess Higher-Order Thinking Skills in Your Classroom.
Corbett, D., Wilson, B., and Williams, B. (2002). Effort and Excellence in urban Classrooms:
Expecting and Getting Success. Teachers College Press.
Kagan, S., & Kagan, M. (2009). Kagan cooperative learning. San Clemente, CA: Kagan.
Kennedy, B. (2011). Teaching Disaffected Middle School Students: How Classroom Dynamics
Shape Students Experiences. Middle School Journal.
Moll, L. C., Amanti, C., Neff, D., & Gonzalez, N. (1992). Funds of knowledge for teaching.
Theory Into Practice, 21(2).
Oakes, J., Lipton, M., Anderson, L., and Stillman, J. (2013), Teaching to Change the World (4th
ed.). Boulder, CO: Paradigm Publishers.
Ross, D., Kamman, M., and Coady, M. (2007). Special Education for Todays Teachers: An
Introduction. New York, New York: Prentice-Hall.
Tomlinson, C. (2000). Reconcilable Differences? Standards-Based Teaching and Differentiation.
Educational Leadership, 58(1).
Weiner, L. (2006). Challenging Deficit Thinking. Educational Leadership, 64(1).
Weinstein, C., & Novodvorsky, I. (2011). Building Respectful, Caring Relationships. In Middle
and Secondary Classroom Management: Lessons from Research and Practice (4th ed.). New
York, New York: McGraw-Hill.
Williams, B. (2007). Creating Equitable Classrooms Through Action Research. Thousand Oaks,
CA: Corwin Press.

Historical Vignette:
In 1821, a man by the name of James Croll was born. He was the son of a
Scottish mason, and he only attended school formally until he was thirteen
years old. After working his fathers fields for a few years, he discovered that
he had a remarkable understanding of mechanics. So, at that time, he left
and became a millwrights apprentice. His apprenticeship forced him to walk
up to thirty or forty miles in one day and he often spent his nights sleeping in
a barn. He continued to find work as a carpenter and later he spent some
time working in the tea trade. He then decided it was time to open his own
business, so he opened an inn in a town that already had sixteen successful
inns. Needless to say, the competition forced him to close down his business
within eighteen months. He then took up selling insurance and worked for
several different companies before he got the appointment of his life. In
1859, the institution Andersons University, now known as the University of
Strathclyde, appointed James Croll, after his thirty eight-years of one failure
after another, to a position at the university, an employee, a member of the
universitys staff as a janitor.
It was at this job that Croll was finally able to flourish and pursue the things
he found important and interesting. He convinced his brother to do most of
the sweeping and mopping, while he spent many nights in the university
library teaching himself whatever he could about the current and popular
sciences of that time, including physics, astronomy, and hydrostatics, all of
which would play a huge role in his years to come. He used his position as a
member of the university staff to his advantage and sent in a number of
papers to the scientific journals of the time. The journals knew only that he
was James Croll from Andersons University in Glasgow. Working at the
university was credibility enough, since nobody actually asked him if he was
just a janitor.
Over the next few years, Croll used his informal education to explore and
research a variety of subjects, including climate change. Specifically, Croll
really was fascinated with ice ages and the role Earths orbit played in
determining when they occurred and ended. He suggested that the orbit of
our blue planet around the sun changed enough over time from a circular
orbit to a slightly elliptical orbit to create these climatic changes in our
atmosphere. He was the first to propose that Earths weather changes could
have an explanation in astronomy. In 1864, a paper on this very idea was
published in a popular journal of the time, and Croll was regarded highly as a
scholar and as a scientist. Once the true nature of Crolls employment at the
university as a janitor, not a professor, there was much shock and surprise in
the academic community. However, after a number of his papers were
published, James Croll, the poor masons son, who had spent many a night
sleeping in a barn, was approached by the Geological Survey of London with
an offer of a job. He took the job and found himself among several honors,

academic fellowships, and the University of St. Andrews eventually gave him
an honorary degree.
The scientific community, specifically geologists, took issue with the timeline
of ice ages proposed by Croll, because his calculations didnt line up with the
current geological evidence at that time. His theory fell into the silence of
forgotten theories and it would have remained there if another scientist,
Milutin Milankovich, who hypothesized that Crolls theories were not incorrect
but that they were not sufficiently developed, had not pursued it. After a
lifetime of study, the principles he developed formed a basis for the future of
climatology. The climatic cycles he researched were eventually named to
honor the scientist who had done so much work on them. As is often the way
in science, it is not the original discoverer of a principle who gets credit, but
the scientist who stands on his shoulders. The cycles are known as
Milankovitch cycles, but if it wasnt for that shrewd, determined janitor, and
his willing brother no doubt, the science of climatology would certainly not
be where it is today.
Bibliography
Bryson, Bill. A Short History of Nearly Everything: 423-426. New York:
Broadway, 2003. Print.
Croll, J & D. The Philosophy of Theism: An Inquiry into the Dependence of
Theism on Metaphysics. London: n.p., 1857. Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
https://archive.org/details/philosophytheis00crolgoog
Sugden, David E. "James Croll: Ice, Ice Ages, and the Antarctic Connection."
Antarctic Science 26.6 (2014): 604-13. Cambridge University Press, 2014.
Web. 23 Nov. 2015.
http://journals.cambridge.org/action/displayFulltext?
type=1&fid=9404345&jid=ANS&volumeId=26&issueId=06&aid=9404341

Name:_______________________________________________
Date:___________________ Period:________
Janitor Atop the World!
Part One: Individual
Directions: Using the historical vignette about James Croll as a resource,
answer the following questions on a separate sheet of paper. This should be
done individually and quietly.
1. There is a raging debate in the public eye right now about the validity
and the causes of climate change. The research data overwhelmingly
support climate change as a real, viable scientific principle. In at least
5 sentences, compare and contrast how the information and data
discovered by and published by James Croll can be used as evidence to
support one or both sides of the argument.
2. In 5-6 sentences, evaluate and propose how the role of failure and
short-lived ventures in his early life played a role contributing to James
Crolls eventual success.
3. In at least three paragraphs, support or criticize James Crolls use of his
employment at the university to lead academic journals to view and
evaluate his work. Use the following question as a guide: do you think
Crolls actions reflect poor character and dishonesty or are they just a
good use of his circumstances and resources to succeed at any cost?

Part Two: Work with others

Directions: Working with either one or three partners, as directed in the

question, complete the following tasks using the historical vignette on James
Croll.
4. Working with your shoulder partner, write a limerick about some
aspect James Crolls life. Remember the following rules for limericks in
this class:
a. Lines 1, 2, and 5 each have 8-9 syllables and rhyme with each
other.
b. Lines 3 and 4 have only 5-6 syllables and rhyme with each other.
c. If youre having trouble starting, you can use the popular limerick
starter phrase There once was a as a starter for line 1.
5. In your small group, design and construct a timeline of James Crolls
life and, at a minimum, include the following events:
a.
b.
c.
d.

At
At
At
At

least
least
least
least

3
2
2
2

events or details from his early life

endeavors of his that failed
successful scientific accomplishments
honors conferred upon him

6. The main reason that Crolls theory fell out of the public eye, until
picked up by Milankovitch, was due to a lack of technology to produce
measurements and data to sufficiently support his theories. As a small
group, name and describe one theory or discovery you think could be
radically changed by the introduction of new technology in the future
and how it would change. Then design a poster that advertises this
technology, theory, and resulting change.

I must say I was a rather dull scholar, scarcely up to the average of boys the
same ageThere were two important and, to most people, interesting
sciences for which I had no relish, namely, chemistry and geology, more
particularly the latter Had anyone told me that one day I should become a
professional geologist, I would have regarded the statement as incredible. In
truth, it was more by accident than by choice that I became a geologist.
~James Croll