Research

Grades 7–12

6 Sessions: 55 Minutes Each

Informational, Media, Narrative, Persuasive

Projects

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.

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SESSION 4 OF 6

Previous Session

Next Session

In this session, writers step back from their songs to learn about the time and place when the song was written, and about the life and career of the artists who wrote and recorded it.

What Your Students Will Learn

In this lesson, writers research more information to understand their song and the life and career of the song’s creator to support and expand their liner notes.

What Your Students Will Produce

Students take notes to organize and prepare for writing their own liner notes, listening with purpose, reading lyrics carefully, and investigating a song’s origins.

What You Will Need

A shared example text, preferably about the example song or its artist, such as a biography or a news article.
Access to books and websites about the artists and songwriters of the students’ songs.
Guiding Questions for Writing Liner Notes — Handout

Before You Start

The work and activities here will depend on how much experience the writers have with research. Perhaps more than any other session in this sequence, this session may be adapted to match the students’ skills and needs.