Phillis Wheatley: Poems Lesson Plan

To College

Kind of Activity:

Creative Writing

Objective:

Students will use "To the University of Cambridge" as a model to consider their own perspectives

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.3; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.5; CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.6

Structure:

Begin by telling students that Phillis Wheatley was 14 years old when she wrote "To the University of Cambridge." As a Black girl who was enslaved, she certainly hadn't yet attended university, but she comfortably asserted her beliefs about what it might mean and how it related to her own values.

Depending on the environment in which you teach, many students might be...