Lesson Plan: Phillis Wheatley’s Words: Connecting with the Past

• Type: Lesson Plan
• Collection: American Art
• Culture/Region: America
• Subject Area: African American, English, History and Social Science, Women
• Grade Level: 3-8
• VASOL Tags: English: 3.3, 3.4.d-g, 3.5.e-j, 3.7, 3.8, 4.4; 5.1.a, 5.4, 5.5, 6.5, 7.5, 8.5 Visual Arts: 3.11, 3.13, 3.18, 4.19, 5.12, 6.14, 7.10, 8.12 History: USI.1.a&b&e, USI.5.d

Students will practice decoding vocabulary by exploring a poem by the first African American woman to publish a book. Inspired by a discussion of a painting from the VMFA collection and the life story of author Phillis Wheatley, they will practice close reading techniques to discover the meaning of a written primary source from an earlier time—and experiment with a method of conveying that meaning to others by emphasizing significant words within the poetry.

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