Lesson 6: Developing Victorian Era Background Knowledge

School and Classroom Context

Course Name/Grade Level
Length of Lesson
Planned Date of Lesson
Description of setting,
students, curriculum, and
any other important
contextual characteristics
English 12 Honors
85 minutes
Thursday, November 15th
My classroom exists within a Culpeper high school with a student
population of 1,188. 63.8% identify themselves as White, 18.3%
Hispanic, 12% Black, 3.8% two or more races, 1.9% Asian, and
0.3% American Indian. 35.6% of the student body is eligible for
free and reduced lunch. Approximately 5.8% of students have
limited English proficiency and 9.5% have exceptionalities. I
teach Honors English 12 with 29 students. I have 11 girls and 18
boys whose racial demographics are roughly equal to the
distribution of the whole school. None of my students have IEPs,
and none of my students are English Language Learners.

12th-grade English is a traditional British Literature course. We

are beginning our final unit on the Victorian Era, and students
will be participating in a jigsaw to develop background
knowledge on the time period.

Objectives (UKD format)

SWBAT:
Know:
U1 Students will understand that literature of the later Victorian Period and the Modern Period
reflect the growing disillusionment and isolation felt by much of society.
U2 Students will understand that the past influences the present, as seen through both personal
narrative and post-colonial literature.

K1 Students will know the historical context surrounding the Victorian Era.

Do:
D1 Students will be able to summarize an informational text by identifying the main idea and
supporting details.
D2 Students will be able to apply background knowledge of the historical context of a specific
time period to answer higher-order, thematic questions.

SOLs:
12.1 The student will make planned persuasive/argumentative, multimodal, interactive
presentations collaboratively and individually.
c. Demonstrate the ability to work collaboratively with diverse teams.
f. Use a variety of strategies to listen actively and speak using appropriate discussion rules
with awareness of verbal and nonverbal cues.
12.4 The student will read, comprehend, and analyze the development of British literature and
literature of other cultures.
 a. Compare and contrast the development of British literature in its historical context.

12.5 The student will read, interpret, analyze, and evaluate a variety of nonfiction texts.
a. Use critical thinking to generate and respond logically to literal, inferential, and
evaluative questions about the text(s).

Methods of Assessment
Diagnostic Formative
Title of assessment tool: Title of assessment tool:
Unit Organizer [Appendix B] Jigsaw and Freewrite
[Appendices C & D]
Criteria:
● Student writes a Criteria:
question about the ● Student summarizes
upcoming unit an informational text
by identifying the
How data will be used: main idea and
● We will use student- supporting details.
generated questions to ● Student applies
prompt discussion and background
transition into the knowledge of the
background-knowledge- historical context of
development jigsaw a specific time
period to answer
How students will receive higher-order,
feedback: thematic questions.
● Students will receive ● Student knows the
peer and whole-group historical context
verbal feedback on their surrounding the
questions Victorian Era.
How data will be used:
● I will determine
whether more or less
scaffolding is needed
based on students’
performance
How students will receive
feedback:
● Generalized verbal
feedback directed to
whole-class
● Written feedback on
handouts and Google
docs
Summative –10/18
Title of assessment tool:
Research Paper
Criteria:
● Student applies
background knowledge
of the historical context
of a specific time
period to answer a
higher-order, thematic
question.
● Student knows the
historical context
surrounding British
Literature.
● Student will answer:
How does history,
culture, and author’s
background influence
literature?
How data will be used:
● MT will have taken
over at this point
● Determine whether
course objectives have
been met
● Determine whether
instruction up to this
point was effective
How students will receive
feedback:
● Written feedback on
handouts and Google
docs

Procedures/Instructional Strategies
Each step should have bolded heading that identifies the activity, and then is followed by the
teacher scripting, student and teacher actions, and a description of the activity.
[Note: Any words that represent what I would say directly to students appear in italics.]

Beginning Room Arrangement:

[Changes in this arrangement that become necessary later will be noted in the plan]

Desks will be arranged into six groups labeled 1-6. Instructions are on the board for students to
sit in a group of their choice without exceeding five people per group.

1. [2 mins] Welcome/greeting/announcements

Slide 133 will be up giving students initial instructions.

Hello, all! Please read the slide and make sure you have your new Unit Roadmap. You may sit
wherever you like, but keep your group to five people or less please.

2. [10 mins] Unit 4 Roadmap

Alrighty, we’re beginning a new unit today on the Victorian Era centering around themes of
Crisis & Identity. Please follow along as I copy the notes with you and we outline this final unit
of our semester.

[I will read and fill in the cloze notes with students using a document camera. Eventually,
students will have the following filled in their notes:
● Literature of the Victorian Period reflect the growing disillusionment and isolation felt by
much of society.
● Writers express feelings of angst through a variety of genres just like we do today.
● British literature is relevant today as people continue to search for identity in the midst of
change and upheaval.]

We’ll be reading some poetry and nonfiction from the Victorian era, and you’ll be reading a very
famous play called The Importance of Being Earnest with Mrs. McGlinchy after I leave. During
this unit, you will also begin your research paper in which you respond to the question in bold at
the top of this sheet that we’ve been discussing all semester: How does history, culture, and
author’s background influence literature? We’ll explore some new historical and cultural
information today during our activity.

Before we move on, I need you all to write a question in the bottom right-hand box on the front
of your notes sheet. Your question can be about any of the information on this notes sheet,
including the assessments you’re responsible for and the texts we’ll be reading.

Go ahead and share your questions with the people at your table, and if you struggled to think of
a question, you have permission to steal someone at your table’s as long as it’s a question you
share.

Would anybody like to share a question they have about the content, assessments, or texts for
Unit Four?

3. [2 mins] Intro to Jigsaw

The reason you are in groups today is because we’re doing a jigsaw activity that will help you
all develop background knowledge about the Victorian Era. We’ve practiced this method twice
before. Can someone remind me how this process works?
[We will review the steps of a jigsaw. Looking for: read silently, discuss, change groups, teach,
reflect]

Great--now let’s recall some benefits of the jigsaw method. Why might you prefer to do
something like a jigsaw rather than read and summarize independently?

[Will will discuss benefits. Looking for: less reading for the individual; talk with friends; etc.]

Awesome, you all remember this process really well. To summarize, each group will silently read
a different passage about the Victorian era. Then, each group will discuss their passage and
write a summary or bullet-points that capture the main idea and specific details about their
passage in the appropriate box on their graphic organizer. We will eventually move around so
that there is one expert per group, where you all will teach each other the information you’ve
become expert in. By the end of the jigsaw, everyone will have information in each box.

What questions do you have before we begin?

4. [20 mins] Expert Groups

Okay, everyone, step one begins now. Your first task is to read your passage silently. Please stay
silent until I prompt you to move to discussion. If you finish reading before I say to talk, then re-
read!

[7 mins]

Take another minute or so to finish silently reading your passage. Okay, begin discussing your
passage with the members in your group. You may also begin writing your main ideas and
details during this time. You may also consider strategizing with your group members how you’d
like to teach your peers this information when you switch groups.

[During this time, I will write a number 1-6 on the top of each student’s graphic organizer to
indicate which jigsaw group they will travel to.]

5. [30 mins] Jigsaw Groups

Alright, friends! Wrap up your discussions and summary-writing. At this point, you should see a
number 1-6 written at the top of your graphic organizer. That is your jigsaw group. Find the
table with the same number that’s written on the top of your handout to join your jigsaw group
members.

Okay! Everybody in [so and so’s] position at their table, please raise your hand. You all will
teach your group members first, and then we’ll travel clockwise around your groups.

[Every four minutes, I will prompt students to switch teachers if they haven’t already]

Alright, go ahead and wrap up with your jigsaw groups but stay where you are. Let’s share some
golden information nuggets from today’s jigsaw. I am going to use my magical card deck to call
on you. Remember you can always read straight from your paper if you need an answer.

[Call on three or four people to share golden information nuggets from the jigsaw]
 6. [20 mins] Freewrite

You’ve done wonderful work in our jigsaw today. If you turn to the back of your graphic
organizer and look at the bottom, you’ll see instructions for the next part of this assignment: a
written reflection. I’m going to read the instructions and then you can ask me questions.

AFTER you have written the main idea and specific details for EACH of the sections above
(you’ve already done that!), choose one of the following questions to respond to, using your new
background knowledge of the Victorian era to guide your thinking. Circle the question that you
choose.

1. Is it morally right and/or just to seek to “civilize” other areas of the world?

2. Was the Industrial Revolution a success? Consider all populations of Britain at the time
and how it impacted them.

3. What are the benefits and consequences of technological progress? Consider living
conditions, financial issues, and the impacts on religious or spiritual beliefs.

Find the assignment on Google Classroom called “Victorian-Era Freewrite” and write a
paragraph addressing the question. Aim for at least five sentences referencing at least two
details from the new information you’ve just learned.

What questions do you have about this assignment or about these questions? You have the rest of
class to complete your freewrite on a Chromebook.

Differentiated Instruction to accommodate one or more of my profiled students:

(This is where you identify specific aspects of this lesson which have been differentiated in order
to address the needs of one or more of your profiled students—identify them by name)

I’ve scaffolded several parts of this lesson to meet the needs of all of the diverse students in my
class. For example, the cloze notes create structure for students like CH and SB who feel
overwhelmed with too much freedom. The small-group discussion format of the jigsaw supports
students like MV and AH who enjoy collaboration and deep engagement with new material. The
independent free-write at the end creates space for students like Y and TM who feel confident
expressing their ideas in writing but less so verbally.

Materials Needed (list):

- Projector - Document camera
- Computers (class set)
- Group # Labels

Materials Appendix: (e.g., supplementary texts, Ppts, overheads, graphic organizers,

handouts, etc.)
Appendix A: Google Slideshow
Appendix B: Unit 4 Roadmap
Appendix C: Victorian-Era Jigsaw Texts
Appendix D: Victorian-Era Jigsaw Graphic Organizer