Phillis Wheatley - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

LESSON 15 TEACHER’S GUIDE
Phillis Wheatley
by Max Tensing
Fountas-Pinnell Level T
Narrative Nonfiction
Selection Summary
Born in Africa, Phillis Wheatley was kidnapped and sold into
slavery to a family in Boston, where she learned to read and write.
She became the first African American to publish a book; George
Washington admired her poetry.
Number of Words: 2,200
Characteristics of the Text
Genre
Text Structure
Content
Themes and Ideas
Language and
Literary Features
Sentence Complexity
Vocabulary
Words
Illustrations
Book and Print Features
• Narrative nonfiction, biography
• Third-person narrative
• Organized in eight short chapters
• Chapters represent periods in Wheatley’s life
• Life as an enslaved black in New England
• Significance of education in colonial times
• Historical events from 1700s
• Writing can transform someone’s life.
• Success can be achieved by persevering.
• Racial inequality is unjust.
• Clear, conversational language
• Samples from couplets and letters
• A mix of short and complex sentences
• Words in quotation marks; italics for terms
• Multiple items in series
• Some literary phrases: heroic couplets, rhyming
• Words related to historical era: enslaved, colonist
• Many challenging multisyllable words: patroness, revolutionary, Bostonians
• Color illustrations
• Captions
• Fifteen pages with illustrations on many pages
• Timeline and sidebars
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
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Phillis Wheatley
by Max Tensing
Build Background
Help students use their knowledge about Colonial America to visualize the selection. Build
interest by asking a question such as the following: What problems do you think a colonial
woman might have had if she tried to publish a book? Read the title and author and talk
about the cover illustration. Note the eight chapter heads. Tell students that this selection
is narrative nonfiction so it will give factual information by telling a true account.
Introduce the Text
Guide students through the text, noting important ideas, and helping with unfamiliar
language and vocabulary so they can read the text successfully. Here are some
suggestions:
Page 2: Read aloud the second paragraph on page 2. Explain that they will find out
in this first chapter why Phillis Wheatley was invited to meet George Washington.
Page 4: Explain that this chapter goes back in time to tell how Phillis Wheatley
arrived in Boston at the age of 7. Direct students to the chapter heading.
Suggested language: As you read, look for details that show how colonial Boston
might look to a girl from a rural area.
Page 7: Read the sentences: The Wheatleys’ religion taught them to treat enslaved
blacks as part of the family. Phillis never had to do tedious chores.
Ask: How do you think Phillis felt about her role in the family?
Page 9: Call attention to the phrase “trapped between two worlds.” Ask: What does
this mean? How do you think it describes Phillis Wheatley’s life?
Now go back to the beginning and read to find out about Phillis Wheatley’s unusual
life and accomplishments.
Target Vocabulary
efficient – brings about results
without a waste of time or
resources, p. 14
lacked – didn’t have something
when it was needed, p. 7
mimic – an object or action that
imitates a real object or action,
p. 10
Grade 5
mocking – imitating someone in
an insulting way, p. 4
personally – done in person or
by one’s self, p. 7
organize – to arrange things
according to a system, p. 13
rural – in the countryside, p. 4
peal – a loud burst of noise,
especially the ringing of a bell,
p. 4
2
summons – calls something up or
brings it forward, p. 12
tedious – something that is
boring, p. 7
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Read
Have students read silently while you listen to individual students read aloud. Support
their problem solving and fluency as needed.
Remind students to use the Monitor/Clarify Strategy
as they read.
Tell them to think about what isn’t making sense and to try to find ways to figure out
parts that are confusing.
Discuss and Revisit the Text
Personal Response
Invite students to share their personal responses to the book.
Suggested language: How did Phillis deal with the obstacles in her life? What do you
think motivated her to continue writing?
Ways of Thinking
As you discuss the text, help students understand these points:
Thinking Within the Text
Thinking Beyond the Text
Thinking About the Text
• Phillis was intent on learning
English and other lessons
that Mary taught her. It was
uncommon for enslaved blacks
to receive any education at all.
• It is possible to attain success
if you persist despite problems
and difficulties.
• The illustrations, photograph,
and historic writing samples
offer additional insight into
Phillis’s life.
• Phillis’s poetry book led to her
popularity as a poet in America
and England. It also eventually
brought her freedom from
slavery.
• Writing can cross through
all social barriers and inspire
others.
• Without the Wheatley family,
Phillis might never have
discovered her talent for writing
poetry.
• The timeline of important dates
summarizes key events.
• The narrative tells about Phillis’s
contribution to American
literature and has a beginning,
middle, and end.
© 2006. Fountas, I.C. & Pinnell, G.S. Teaching for Comprehending and Fluency, Heinemann, Portsmouth, N.H.
Choices for Further Support
• Fluency Invite students to choral read Alexander Pope’s poem, which uses “heroic
couplets,” on page 10. Remind them to pay attention to punctuation, and to stress
important words as they interpret the text while reading the paired rhyming lines.
• Comprehension Based on your observations of the students’ reading and discussion,
revisit parts of the text to clarify or extend comprehension. Remind students to go
back to the text to support their ideas.
• Phonics/Word Work Provide practice as needed with words and word parts, using
examples from the text. Have students define the word “disregard” based on its
use on page 6. Ask students to name other words that share the prefix “dis.” Some
examples include disobey, distrust, and dislike.
Grade 5
3
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Writing about Reading
Critical Thinking
Have students complete the Critical Thinking questions on BLM 15.8.
Responding
Have students complete the activities at the back of the book, using their Reader’s
Notebook. Use the instruction below as needed to reinforce or extend understanding of the
comprehension skill.
Target Comprehension Skill
Compare and Contrast
Have students note the similarities and
differences among the characters and plot details. Help them to recognize signal words
in the text such as like, alike, same, different so that they can compare similarities and
differences. Model how to add details to the Graphic Organizer, using a “Think Aloud”
like the one below:
Think Aloud
Fill in the outer circle of the Venn diagram by writing how Mary is
different from Phillis. You might write: born in North America, lived with
her parents, privileged, hoped to become a teacher. Then think how
both girls are alike. In the middle oval, you could write: lived in Boston,
enjoyed learning, intelligent, valued friendship.
Practice the Skill
Encourage students to share their examples of another book that uses Compare and
Contrast to tell about a young woman who accomplished a goal by persevering.
Writing Prompt: Thinking Beyond the Text
Have students write a response to the writing prompt on page 6. Remind them that when
they think beyond the text, they use their personal knowledge to reach new understanding.
Assessment Prompts
• What sentences from pages 13 and 14 show that Phillis is determined to succeed at
writing?
• What is the important message in the selection?
• How does the author organize the information in pages 2 through 3 in this book?
Grade 5
4
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English Language Development
Reading Support Check regularly on students’ oral reading to determine accuracy,
fluency, and comprehension.
Idioms The text includes some idioms that might be unfamiliar. Explain the meaning of
expressions such as like a sponge (page 7) and tongue-tied (page 3).
Oral Language Development
Check student comprehension, using a dialogue that best matches your students’
English proficiency level. Speaker 1 is the teacher, Speaker 2 is the student.
Beginning/Early Intermediate
Intermediate
Early Advanced/ Advanced
Speaker 1: In what city did the
Wheatleys live?
Speaker 1: What type of poetry did
Phillis mimic when she began writing
poems?
Speaker 1: How did Phillis
disprove the belief among many
colonists that enslaved Africans
were incapable of learning?
Speaker 2: Boston
Speaker 2: She used heroic couplets to
tell a story.
Speaker 1: What general had Phillis
been invited to meet?
Speaker 1: Why did Phillis need people
to people to sign a letter to testify that
she wrote her poems?
Speaker 2: General George Washington
Speaker 1: How old was Phillis when
her first poem was published?
Speaker 2: Publishers did not believe
that an enslaved woman could write
poetry.
Speaker 2: 14 years old
Speaker 2: Phillis learned all of the
information she could during her
lessons with Mary. Her zeal for
learning gave her an education
better than many female
colonists.
Lesson 15
Name
BLACKLINE MASTER 15.8
Date
Critical Thinking
Responding
Phillis Wheatley
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions. Possible responses shown.
1. Think within the text What did Phillis have to do to prove that she
Compare and Contrast How
were Phillis Wheatley and Mary Wheatley alike?
How were they different? Copy and complete the
diagram below to show your answers.
TARGET SKILL
Phillis Wheatley
Both
was the author of her poems?
She got a signed letter from Boston’s most respected men stating
that she wrote the poems.
2. Think within the text Why is Phillis Wheatley called “the mother of
African American Literature”?
Mary Wheatley
She was the first African American woman to write poetry and
publish a book.
born
in Africa,
then sold
into slavery
and brought
to North
America
3. Think beyond the text Compare and contrast Phillis’s life with that
?
of most other slaves.
?
Unlike other slaves, Phillis did not have to do difficult and tiring
chores. She was taught to read and write, and treated as part of
the family. Like other slaves, she was not free.
4. Think about the text Do you think that the author considered
Phillis Wheatley to be a hero? Explain why or why not.
Yes, because even though her life was difficult, she worked hard
and was successful.
Write About It
Making Connections Phillis Wheatley enjoyed writing heroic couplets. A
heroic couplet is a pair of lines that rhyme. Each line has ten syllables. Create
your own heroic couplet about Phillis Wheatley.
Text to Text Think about another selection you have
read that tells about a writer or poet. Write a few
paragraphs telling about that writer’s life and
accomplishments.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
19
Critical Thinking
10
Grade 5, Unit 3: Revolution!
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Name
Date
Phillis Wheatley
Thinking Beyond the Text
Think about the questions below. Then write your answer in two paragraphs.
Remember that when you think beyond the text, you use your personal
knowledge to reach new understandings.
On page 11, the author describes how Phillis Wheatley wrote poems about
current events during the American Revolution. What are some of the
current events she wrote about? How do you think political and social issues
of the current time inspired Wheatley’s creativity and motivation to write?
Give several examples of how her poems reflect this.
Grade 5
6
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Lesson 15
BLACKLINE MASTER 15.8
Name
Date
Critical Thinking
Phillis Wheatley
Critical Thinking
Read and answer the questions.
1. Think within the text What did Phillis have to do to prove that she
was the author of her poems?
2. Think within the text Why is Phillis Wheatley called “the mother of
African American Literature”?
3. Think beyond the text Compare and contrast Phillis’s life with that
of most other slaves.
4. Think about the text Do you think that the author considered
Phillis Wheatley to be a hero? Explain why or why not.
Making Connections Phillis Wheatley enjoyed writing heroic couplets. A
heroic couplet is a pair of lines that rhyme. Each line has ten syllables. Create
your own heroic couplet about Phillis Wheatley.
Write your answer in your Reader’s Notebook.
Grade 5
7
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Student
Lesson 15
Date
BLACKLINE MASTER 15.12
Phillis Wheatley • LEVEL T
page
8
Phillis Wheatley
Running Record Form
Selection Text
Errors
Self-Corrections
Accuracy Rate
Total SelfCorrections
Phillis’s many accomplishments were considered amazing.
Most Americans at that time thought that Africans were not
capable of learning as well as white colonists. Some believed
that they could not learn at all. Of course, these people rarely
tested their theory by offering enslaved Africans the
opportunity to learn.
Phillis Wheatley proved many people wrong. Thanks to her
eagerness to work, she soon had a better education than many
free girls in the colonies.
Phillis easily overcame educational obstacles. But social
9
obstacles were a bigger problem. Phillis was often invited to
the homes of Boston’s wealthy families.
Comments:
(# words read
correctly/97 × 100)
%
Read word correctly
Code
✓
cat
Repeated word,
sentence, or phrase
®
Omission
—
cat
cat
Grade 5
Behavior
Error
0
0
Substitution
Code
cut
cat
1
Self-corrects
cut sc
cat
0
Insertion
the
1
cat
Error
1414326
Behavior
ˆ
Word told
1
8
T
cat
1
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