Name: Dominick Wroblewski

Lesson Title and Number: Illinois History (Week 4 Day 2: Great Chicago Fire)
Grade Level/Class: 10th Grade History
Time Length: 50 Minutes
Topic: Great Chicago Fire

Standards (include NCTE/NCSS/NGSS/NCTM):

● SS.9-12.H.8. Analyze key historical events and contributions of individuals through a
variety of perspectives, including those of historically underrepresented groups.
● NCSS Theme 1: (Culture)
● NCSS Theme 2: (Time, Continuity, and Change)
● NCSS Theme 3: (People, Places, and Change)
● NCSS Theme 5: (Individuals, Groups, and Institutions)
● NCSS Theme 6: (Power, Authority, and Governance)
● NCSS Theme 9: (Global Connections)

Educational Objectives:
● Students will be able to relate events throughout Illinois history and relate it to events
surrounding our current world in writing.

Assessment on Learning:
● Students will be asked to write a short essay comparing the controversy surrounding the
blaming of the Great Chicago Fire to something that is similar happening today in our
present society. For example, students could compare the blame placed on Catherine
O’Leary, a Catholic Irish immigrant, for causing the Great Chicago Fire to Mexicans
migrating to the United States and being blamed for the drug epidemic. The short essay
will be 3 paragraphs long, with 5-6 sentences per paragraph. The assignment will
examine the student’s ability to critically think about past events that they are familiar
with and compare them to the world that surrounds them today. The assessment will be
graded based on content rather than grammar and essay structure.

Central Focus
● The central focus of this lesson is to promote critical thinking while also informing
students about great events that happened in the state they live in. The students will be
tasked with thinking about the Great Chicago Fire and the controversy surrounding the
blame placed on Catherine O’Leary. They will be asked why Catherine was an easy
scapegoat for the
Academic Language
Language Function (select 1):

Analyze Compare/ Construct Describe Evaluate

Contrast

Examine Identify Interpret Justify Locate

Explain Prove Argue Synthesize

Identify a learning task from your plan that provides students with opportunities to
practice using the language function identified above:
Students will be assigned to compare the Great Chicago Fire to current events. The students
will learn about the controversy surrounding the blaming of the Chicago Fire on a member of
an oppressed group within American society. The students will be tasked with comparing this
event with something similar in current society.

Additional Language Demands. Given the language function and learning task identified
above, describe the following associated language demands (written or oral) students need to
understand and/or use:
As the assignment will be a short essay, the students will be performing their learning task in
a written format. The assignment tasks the student to compare the above mentioned
controversies and to write their comparison within a 3 paragraph essay that is to be assessed.
Vocabulary:
 The Great Chicago Fire
 Catherine O’Leary
 Anti-Catholic
 Anti-Irish
 Xenophobia
 Marshal Law
 Exoneration
 Scapegoating
Plus at least one of the following:
Syntax
Discourse

Materials:
Handouts
Writing Utensils
Notebooks
Chromebooks

Anticipatory Set/ Attention Getter:

I will begin the lesson by sharing a few stories and articles of Asian Americans being
discriminated against during the COVID pandemic. Asian Americans experienced a series of
attacks throughout the pandemic. This was due to the disease having its origins within Wuhan,
China. Some Americans took it upon themselves to take a violent stance towards Asian
Americans and assault them for simply being ethnically Asian, placing the blame on them for
causing the deadly pandemic. As with the blaming of Asian Americans during the COVID
Pandemic, Irish Americans were looked down upon in American Society during the 19th and 20th
centuries. They were the target of many discriminatory acts as well, sometimes even alongside
Asians and Asian Americans while working on the railroad. This will allow students to make a
real and modern connection to the lesson.

Questions to Ask
1. Why were Irish Americans looked down upon in the 19th and 20th centuries?
2. Why was Catherine O’Leary blamed for causing the Great Chicago Fire?
3. Was the fact that, because Catherine O’Leary was a Catholic and Irish, the reason she was
blamed for the Great Chicago Fire?
4. In what other ways have we seen the discrimination that Catherine O’Leary received
throughout history?
5. What other ways have we seen the discrimination that Catherin O’Leary received in our own
society?

Sequence of Events (include time needed):

1. Attention Getter – (10 Minutes) The class will begin with a series of articles and stories about
Asian Americans being discriminated against during the COVID pandemic. Many Asian
Americans were blamed for causing the pandemic simply because of their ethnicity and were the
subjects of many assaults throughout the pandemic. This will later connect to the lesson which
explains how Irish Americans were discriminated against in the United States and how that
relates to the Great Chicago Fire.
2. Lecture – (20 Minutes) The class will take notes about general facts about the Chicago Fire.
This will include significant dates, the vocabulary listed above, and events that occurred after the
fire itself. Later, the students will learn about who was blamed for the Chicago Fire and how it
relates to the lesson’s attention getter. The students will learn about how ethnic groups that are
oppressed and looked down upon in society can be easily blamed for many events that threaten
American society.
3. Handout an article that relates to Catherine O’Leary – (15 Minutes) The students will be given
5 minutes to read the article that explains how many media sources at the time of the fire posted
Catherine O’Leary’s name associated with the blame of causing the fire. This article will be used
to promote class discussion. After the 5 minutes are up, a class discussion will break out
regarding the article.
4. Explaining the homework – (5 Minutes)

Conclusion/Summary:

The class will end with a class discussion about the article the students received. The discussion
will include how the situation with Catherine O’Leary relates to not only Illinois history, but also
the attention getter at the beginning of class. After the class discussion has concluded, as well as
any lingering questions about the topic, the homework will be explained to the class.