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Grade Eleven, Unit One Sample Lesson Plan
“On Being Brought from Africa to America” by Phillis Wheatley
In this series of four lessons, students:
Evaluate the controversy over Wheatley’s texts (RL.11.2, RI.11.2, W.11.1a,b,d, W.11.2a,b)
Gather information relevant to Wheatley’s “trials” (RL.11.1, RL.11.2, RI.11.1, RI.11.2)
Summary
Lesson I: Meet Phillis Wheatley
Lesson II: Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and The Trials of Phillis
Wheatley
Investigate the life of Phillis Wheatley (informational
text) (RI.11.3)
Identify key ideas in Gates’s essay (RI.11.1, RI.11.2, RI.11.3)
Contextualize her works (informational text)
Evaluate Gates’s rhetorical moves (RI.11.5, RI.11.6)
Evaluate the artistic merits of several of her texts (RL.11.1,
Revisit Wheatley’s texts (RL.11.2)
RL.11.2, RL.11.3, RL.11.4, SL.11.1b,c)
Analyze Wheatley’s complex message (RL.11.1, RL.11.2,
Consider the dilemma that Gates introduces (RL.11.2,
RI.11.2, SL.11.1b,c,d)
RL.11.3, RL.11.4)
Lesson III: “The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain”
Lesson IV: The Trials of Phillis Wheatley—A Debate
Identify key ideas in Hughes’s “The Negro Artist and the
Racial Mountain” (RI.11.1, RI.11.2, RI.11.3, RI.11.6)
Gather information relevant to Wheatley’s “trials” (RL.11.1,
Revisit Wheatley’s texts (RL.11.2)
Evaluate the controversy over Wheatley’s texts (RL.11.2,
Consider whether Wheatley fulfilled Hughes’s challenge
(RL.11.1, RI.11.2)
Sample Lesson Plan (Grade Eleven, Unit 1)
© 2011 Common Core, Inc. All rights reserved.
RL.11.2, RI.11.1, RI.11.2)
RI.11.2, W.11.1a,b,d, W.11.2a,b)
Debate the merits of each side of the dispute (RI.11.1,
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RI.11.2, SL.11.1b,c,d)
Challenge Hughes’s perspective (RI.11.2, SL.11.1b, SL.11.1c)
Juxtapose Gates’s and Hughes’s views (RI.11.2, SL.11.1b,c,d)
Lesson IV: The Trials of Phillis Wheatley—A Debate
Objectives
Gather information relevant to Wheatley’s “trials” (RL.11.1, RL.11.2, RI.11.1, RI.11.2)
Evaluate the controversy over Wheatley’s texts (RL.11.2, RI.11.2, W.11.1a,b,d, W.11.2a,b)
Debate the merits of each side of the dispute (RI.11.1, RI.11.2, SL.11.1.b,c,d)
Required Materials
“On Being Brought from Africa to America,” by Phillis Wheatley
“An Hymn to the Evening,” by Phillis Wheatley
“To His Excellency General Washington,” by Phillis Wheatley
The Trials of Phillis Wheatley, by Henry Louis Gates, Jr.
“The Negro Artist and the Racial Mountain,” by Langston Hughes
Procedures
1. Lead-In:
An introduction to the purpose of the debate over Wheatley’s writings.
2. Step by Step:
a. Divide the class into two groups. Do not allow students to choose the side that they believe is correct. (An easy way to
avoid dispute is to count the students in ones and twos, then all the ones become one side, while all the others are the
other side.)
b. In groups, students:
― Closely re-read Wheatley’s work
― Analyze Gates and list his key ideas
Sample Lesson Plan (Grade Eleven, Unit 1)
© 2011 Common Core, Inc. All rights reserved.
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― Analyze Hughes and list his key ideas
― Conduct further research on the dispute
― Conduct internal debate and anticipate the other side’s position
c. Each side produces a three-page document or digital presentation that presents and defends its views.
d. Each side summarizes its position.
e. Each side takes notes while listening.
f. Lead the debate following the reading of both papers.
3. Closure:
Provide the class with an assessment of the debate, pointing to key ideas in this ongoing dispute.
Differentiation
Advanced
Encourage students to conduct research beyond the material provided.
Ask students to share their findings with their groups and incorporate appropriate material into their presentations.
Encourage students to find examples of strong debates, and create a “rubric” for what makes a strong debate. Share
the rubric with all students, and point out these qualities during the debate.
Struggling
Assist some of the students while they are working on step b. The class can collaboratively track key points using a
shared spreadsheet. Or, encourage students to use ReadWriteThink’s “Literary Graffiti Interactive” to help them
visualize and remember what they are reading about.
Creating detailed charts may help this process.
Students divide into groups and act out/dramatize the key ideas by Wheatley, Gates, and Hughes (in order to reinforce
them). These dramatizations can be recorded using a video camera for future reference.
Assessment/Homework
N/A
Sample Lesson Plan (Grade Eleven, Unit 1)
© 2011 Common Core, Inc. All rights reserved.
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