×
Login Sign up
Grades 7–12
6 Sessions: 55 Minutes Each
Informational, Media, Narrative, Persuasive

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Motown Music & History

by Andrea Cisneros, Jeff Shi, Daniel Reck, & Frances Martin, 826michigan
1. Genre Study of Liner Notes
2. Listening Party
3. Close-Reading Lyrics
4. Research
5. Writing!
6. Revising, Editing, and Sharing
Students will use music as a lens to learn about a historical period and research primary and secondary sources to write their own liner notes.
bookmark download
SESSION 3 OF 6
Previous Session
Next Session

Close-Reading Lyrics

In this session, students examine song lyrics to better understand them, as well as how lyrics work with music in a song.
Download Includes
Lesson instructions, 3 Lesson handouts
What Your Students Will Learn

A good song combined with good lyrics is something to talk about. Now that our writers have taken a deep-dive into the music, we’ll move into the lyrics to think about what they’re saying, how they work with the music, and why they matter in their cultural and historical context. Through this session, students begin developing a thoughtful and evidence-based interpretation of their song. Their main goal is to practice going past the surface and think about the message or point the songwriter is trying to communicate.

What Your Students Will Produce