Capstone Storybook Page Drafting — Each Child Authors One Founding-Era Voice (with Phillis Wheatley Close Reading)

Morning Meeting + standing recite Three Promises. Read aloud 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' (Phillis Wheatley, 1773) — the unit's culminating Black-woman's-voice primary source.

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Read Phillis Wheatley 1773 poem
• Affirm: 'Today we honor Phillis Wheatley as the unit's culminating Black-woman's-voice primary source AND we draft our capstone storybook pages.'

PHILLIS WHEATLEY CLOSE READING (15 min): Phillis Wheatley (c.1753-1784) was born in Senegal in West Africa around 1753. She was captured at age 7-8 and transported to Boston via the Middle Passage on a ship named 'The Phillis' (from which her enslavers gave her the name Phillis Wheatley — her birth name in Senegal is unknown to history). The Wheatley family of Boston purchased her in 1761 and (unusually) taught her to read and write in English, Latin, and Greek. She began writing poetry as a teenager. In 1773 (when she was ~20) her 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral' was published in London — making her the FIRST published African American poet AND the first published African American woman writer. The volume required testimony from 18 prominent Boston men (including John Hancock and the Massachusetts governor) that she had actually written the poems — a testament to the racist disbelief she had to overcome. Read 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' aloud — apply MG-7 full routine. The poem uses Christian-redemption framing STRATEGICALLY — appearing to thank her enslavers for bringing her to Christianity BUT ending with 'Remember, Christians, Negros, black as Cain / May be refin'd, and join th'angelic train' which addresses Christian readers AS EQUALS in salvation, asserting Black personhood. Read 'To His Excellency General Washington' 1775 aloud — Wheatley wrote a praise poem to Washington that Washington personally received and to which he wrote a courteous response. Wheatley was freed by her enslavers in 1773 around publication. She married a free Black grocer John Peters in 1778. She died in 1784 at age ~31. CAPSTONE STORYBOOK WORKSHOP (40 min): Children select one of the 12 voices from MG-12 and draft their 2-paragraph storybook page using MG-16 template. Workshop format with teacher conferences.

• Phillis Wheatley is the unit's culminating primary source — Black woman's voice from 1773 demanding to be heard.

  model Sourcing: Phillis Wheatley, born Senegal c.1753, captured at age 7-8 and enslaved in Boston; wrote and published 1773 at age ~20; required 18 prominent Boston men's testimony that she had actually written the poems. Contextualization: 1773, the same year as Felix Holbrook's freedom petition; pre-Revolutionary tensions; abolition not yet broadly organized in colonies. Corroboration: Wheatley's other poems (especially 'To His Excellency General Washington' 1775) show her sophisticated craft; 'Phillis's Big Test' (Weatherford 2008) documents the racist disbelief she faced. Close reading: the poem uses Christian-redemption framing STRATEGICALLY — appears to thank her enslavers BUT ends with 'May be refin'd, and join th'angelic train' addressing Christian readers AS EQUALS in salvation. NMAI 5th move: Wheatley's African-born Black woman's voice is present; whose are absent — millions of enslaved African women who could not write or were not permitted to publish.

  prompt Apply MG-7 full Wineburg routine to Phillis Wheatley's 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' 1773.
• Choice authority is the capstone gift — each child speaks one voice.

  model Children share their selected voice from the 12 (Wampanoag / Powhatan / Haudenosaunee Clan Mother / Middle-Passage African / Chesapeake-plantation African American / Free Black Bostonian Crispus Attucks / Phillis Wheatley / Olaudah Equiano / Abigail Adams / Mercy Otis Warren / Loyalist Ann Hulton / Working-class shoemaker Patriot George Robert Twelves Hewes).

  prompt Which voice did YOU select from MG-12 for your storybook page?

• Apply MG-7: who was Phillis Wheatley and what is the strategic framing in her 1773 poem?
• Which voice did YOU select from MG-12?
• Have you completed your P1 storybook claim sentence?

Children apply MG-7 full 4-question routine + NMAI 5th move to Phillis Wheatley's 'On Being Brought from Africa to America' 1773 as the unit's culminating primary-source close reading.

M-5-F-CUL-21-B Illustration

Portrait illustration of Phillis Wheatley (c.1753-1784) at her writing desk in Boston with her quill, ink, and manuscript of 'Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral' 1773 visible. Caption: 'PHILLIS WHEATLEY (c.1753-1784). Born in Senegal, West Africa. Captured at age 7-8 and transported to Boston via the Middle Passage. Taught herself to read and write in English, Latin, and Greek. Published Poems on Various Subjects, Religious and Moral in London 1773 at age ~20 — FIRST published African American poet, FIRST published African American woman writer. Wrote a praise poem to General Washington 1775 to which Washington personally responded. Married free Black grocer John Peters 1778. Died 1784 at age ~31. Apply MG-9 Humanity-FIRST and MG-10 Resilience-FIRST anchors.' Style: respectful adult portrait, dignified, no caricature, with her writing materials and book cover centered.

MG-10 Illustration

Resilience-First Promise — paired with MG-8 and MG-9 for trauma-informed lessons. Five-line text: 'When we learn about hard history — the Middle Passage, the Slave Codes, the Trail of Tears, the Pequot War — we open with RESILIENCE. We name what enslaved people, what Indigenous nations, what oppressed communities created and built and sustained. Resilience comes FIRST, then we tell the harm, then we close with resilience again.' Style: dignified scroll layout matching MG-8 and MG-9.

MG-9 Illustration

Humanity-First Promise — paired with MG-8 for trauma-informed lessons on slavery (Lessons 9, 10, 13, 16, 19). Five-line text: 'When we learn about chattel slavery, we begin with the HUMANITY of the enslaved person — their name (if known), their family, their place of origin, their resistance, their dignity. We never reduce a human being to a number, a price, or a victim alone.' Style: dignified scroll layout matching MG-8.

• Apply MG-7 in pairs to Phillis Wheatley's 1773 poem.

  scaffold Sentence frames; partner check; teacher modeling.
• Draft P1 of your capstone storybook page using MG-16 template — claim about your selected voice's Founding-Era experience.

  scaffold Use sample previous-year pages (anonymized) as model; teacher conference for each child.
• Identify at least 2 primary sources from your MG-7 binder that will support P2 (evidence + voice-quote).

  scaffold Use the unit's primary-source list; partner check.

M-5-F-CUL-21-A Interactive Physical / non-image

Wall display of MG-16 template. Layout: TITLE (child-selected voice from MG-12) / DATE-PLACE ANCHOR (1 sentence) / 2-PARAGRAPH MINI-ESSAY (P1 claim + P2 evidence with voice-quote in italics + parenthetical citation) / CHILD-DRAWN ILLUSTRATION OR ACCOMPANYING PHOTO OF ARTIFACT / CHILD'S NAME AS AUTHOR + CLASSROOM + SCHOOL + 2026 / BOTTOM BANNER 'Distributed via Foxfire methodology to self / school library / [descendant-community organization].' Style: clean storybook page format with mounting guides for the bound 40-page class book.

MG-12 Illustration

12 Founding-Era Voices Gallery — 12-portrait illustration grid showing the 12 voices that anchor the Capstone Storybook (matching MG-1 perimeter medallions): (1) Tisquantum / Squanto (Wampanoag, c.1585–1622) shown as a man in his prime not as a Plymouth-friend caricature; (2) Powhatan / Wahunsenacawh (Pamunkey, c.1547–1618); (3) a Haudenosaunee Clan Mother of the Onondaga Nation c.1750; (4) an enslaved African on the Middle Passage c.1740 shown facing forward with dignity, not in profile; (5) an enslaved African American family in the Chesapeake c.1730; (6) Crispus Attucks (c.1723–1770) shown as a sailor with both his African and Wampanoag/Natick heritage acknowledged; (7) Phillis Wheatley (c.1753–1784) shown with her quill at her writing desk; (8) Olaudah Equiano / Gustavus Vassa (c.1745–1797) shown as an adult with his Narrative book; (9) Abigail Adams (1744–1818) shown writing the Remember the Ladies letter; (10) Mercy Otis Warren (1728–1814) shown writing 'The Group' 1775; (11) Ann Hulton (Loyalist, c.1727–1779) shown writing letters from Boston; (12) George Robert Twelves Hewes (the shoemaker, 1742–1840) shown at his cobbler's bench. Below each portrait: name + dates + identity-tag (Wampanoag / Pamunkey / Onondaga Clan Mother / Middle-Passage African / Chesapeake-plantation African American / Free Black Bostonian / Enslaved African American Poet / Self-emancipated African / Anglo-American Patriot Woman / Anglo-American Patriot Writer / Anglo-American Loyalist Woman / Working-Class Patriot Shoemaker). Style: portrait-grid format suitable for classroom Hall of Voices.

MG-16 Interactive Physical / non-image

Capstone Storybook Page Template — 1-page-per-child template for the 40-page bound class storybook 'Founding Documents and Many Voices: Grade 5 Authors a Founding-Era Exhibit.' Each child's page has: (a) child-selected voice (one of 12 from MG-12); (b) 1-sentence date/place anchor; (c) 2-paragraph mini-essay (claim + 2 pieces of primary-source evidence + 1 voice-quote in italics + parenthetical citation); (d) child-drawn illustration or accompanying photograph of the artifact being discussed; (e) child's name as author + classroom + school + 2026; (f) bottom banner reads 'Distributed via Foxfire methodology to self / school library / [descendant-community organization].' Style: clean storybook format with mounting guides.

• Apply MG-7: what is the strategic framing in Phillis Wheatley's 1773 poem?
• Which voice did YOU select for your storybook page?
• Have you drafted P1?

• Standing recite Three Promises
• Preview tomorrow: CAPSTONE LAUNCH — Lesson 22 Founding Documents and Many Voices Exhibit gallery walk + federal Civic-Action Letter mailing

• Finish P2 of your storybook page at home — use your MG-7 primary-source binder to identify the voice-quote.