Thanks to generous support from Humanities Texas and the National Writing Project (NWP), one set of activities nested within the larger “Genius of Phillis Wheatley Peters” initiative generated collaborative writing by teachers for teachers. In the spirit of NWP’s vision of teachers teaching teachers, this team first met together virtually for whole-group engagement with poems by PWP and study of her cultural context. Lead humanities scholar Sandra Zagarell and PWP initiative codirector Sarah Ruffing Robbins facilitated this discussion along with NWP Executive Director Tanya Baker. Then, sharing drafts in the NWP’s online studio and with project facilitators, team members crafted curriculum materials and/or poetry of their own that could serve as mentor texts for student writers. Below you’ll find links to these resources, along with videos providing context on the work by these talented teacher-writers.
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Curricular Resources
Descriptive Contents of Curricular Materials (Click links to download):
Teaching Wheatley’s Correspondence with George Washington by Amy Finegold
Teaching Wheatley's poem “Imagination” by Amy Finegold
Guiding Reflections on Identity through Reading PWP and a Contemporary Narrative by Mona Voelkel
Teaching PWP’s Biography and Authorship, and Writing Poetry about Her by Willeena Booker
Visual Frameworks for Reading PWP and a Book-Length Biographical Narrative about her by Jessica Schreyer
Teaching Wheatley's “On Being Brought” and Cultural Context via Online Activities by Shazia Khan
Teaching Wheatley’s Correspondence with George Washington by Amy Finegold
Teaching Wheatley's poem “Imagination” by Amy Finegold
Guiding Reflections on Identity through Reading PWP and a Contemporary Narrative by Mona Voelkel
Teaching PWP’s Biography and Authorship, and Writing Poetry about Her by Willeena Booker
Visual Frameworks for Reading PWP and a Book-Length Biographical Narrative about her by Jessica Schreyer
Teaching Wheatley's “On Being Brought” and Cultural Context via Online Activities by Shazia Khan
View video of teachers discussing their curricular materials and reading from their poetry--along with a tour of the entire website.
Creative Resources
Teacher-Writers’ Poems Inspired by Studying Phillis Wheatley Peters (Click links to download)
“Looking Into Phillis (On viewing Meredith Bergmann’s Phillis Wheatley Memorial Statue)” by Lucinda Zamora-Wiley
“No doubt” by Willeena Booker
“Rebirth of a Name" by Willeena Booker
“Phillis Wheatley Peters: The Color of You” by Mona Voelkel
Haikus and a Letter to Phillis Wheatley by Amy Finegold
“Looking Into Phillis (On viewing Meredith Bergmann’s Phillis Wheatley Memorial Statue)” by Lucinda Zamora-Wiley
“No doubt” by Willeena Booker
“Rebirth of a Name" by Willeena Booker
“Phillis Wheatley Peters: The Color of You” by Mona Voelkel
Haikus and a Letter to Phillis Wheatley by Amy Finegold
View video in which several scholars discuss the poems written by NWP teachers, both as aesthetically powerful writing and as teaching resources for introducing students to PWP.