• analyze a song to critically examine the subject addressed.
• identify the people, places and events addressed in a song.
• research information presented in song lyrics.
• interpret song lyrics based on contextual clues and research information.
• chart their research using an online graphic organizer.
• synthesize their learning through completion of a project related to song lyrics.

• Lyrics to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel
• Audio or video of the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel
• Online Chart
• Interview Guidelines
• Research Questions
• Final Project Ideas
• Rubric
• Self-reflection

• Decide whether to choose students’ final project or to have students selecting their own projects. Arrange for computer time if any of the final projects require technology.
• Make appropriate copies of Song Lyrics, Interview Guidelines, Research Questions, Final Project Ideas, Rubric, and Self-reflection.
• Test the Online Chart on your computers to familiarize yourself with the tools and ensure that you have the Flash plug-in installed. You can download the plug-in from the technical support page. If you use any of the other online student tools, test those as well to ensure that they work properly on your machines.

1. Begin this lyrical study by asking the students if they can think of any songs—classic or contemporary—that discuss history and times passed. Some examples may include “1985” by Bowling for Soup, “American Pie” by Don McLean, and even songs from Schoolhouse Rock. Ideally, students will be able to share many titles and musical genres.
2. Explain that the class will critically listen to such a song that discusses historical events, discovering the meaning and the history involved.
3. Play the song “We Didn’t Start the Fire” by Billy Joel, or show the music video if it is available.
4. Ask the students if they have ever heard the song and if they recognize the artist.
5. Invite students to share other song titles by Billy Joel.
6. Ask students to take out a piece of paper and fold it into fourths. The columns on the paper should be labeled with the following headings: People, Places, Events, and Uncertain.
7. Play the song again. This time, ask students to jot down as many people, places and events as they are able while they listen to the song.
8. After the song concludes, invite students to share and discuss the items that they identified as they listened to the lyrics.
9. Distribute the song lyrics to the students and allow them time to read and think about the lyrics.
10. Play the song a third time, with the students following along with the lyrics.
11. Explain how Billy Joel used events, terms, and people associated with a certain time period in history to create the lyrics for this song. Except for the chorus, the song is a collection of words and phrases focused on historical events, people, and places.
12. Invite students to share what they know about the information in the song.
13. Ask the students if they know why the lyrics are divided where they are.
14. Lead a discussion that includes the following questions: “Why do you think these events were selected? What events do you think were left off? Why? ”
15. Divide students into project groups, and assign each group a section of the song.
16. Explain that groups will determine the relevance of each of the words and phrases in their section of the song. By researching and interviewing, students will assign to each event, person, and place an approximate date, location, significance in history, and any contemporary connection. All this information will be recorded in an Online Chart.
17. If there is time, invite students to find and share any trivia related to the events, people and places.

1. Before beginning the research process, share the Rubric with the students so that they know the goals for the assignment.
2. With your assistance, students should research their selected topics to answer the research questions.
3. Encourage students to make the most of the available resources for their research, including their library media center and computer lab. Point out books, magazines, newspapers, and other periodicals that include pertinent information as well as Web resources that will help students identify information about their topics.
4. In addition to the typical research mediums, explain that students will interview community members about their section of the song. This step is crucial as some of the topics or items mentioned in the song and not found in typical research mediums.
5. Students can create their own interview questions, or use the Guiding Questions handout.
6. Assist the students as they research. Help them to determine keywords, or evaluate the effectiveness of a text or Web site.
7. Students will be recording their information using the Online Chart. This can then be printed and used as part of the final project.

1. When the students have completed their research and their Online Chart, present the list of final project ideas, and invite students to share any additional project ideas they have.
2. Once students have selected their project type from the list of final project ideas, present the options for publishing their research findings and displaying their final project:
   
   
   • Create a newspaper, flyer, booklet, or brochure with their research.
   • Create a 6-page booklet about their findings, using the Stapleless Book.
   • Use the Multigenre Mapper to create a project using multiple genres such as illustrations, poetry, quotations, biographical information, and recipes.
   • Chart the high and low points of the decade they’ve studied with the Graphic Map.
   • Record the data from their time period using the Timeline Tool.

Allow time in class for the completion of the students’ final projects.

When all of the projects are completed, invite the students to share what they have learned.

• Students can share their research from the Billy Joel song lyrics.
• Students can share their selection from the final project ideas.

• Students can categorize all of the items listed in the song, using their own categories. Ask students to justify the placement of each item. For example, if Marilyn Monroe is placed in a Tragedy category, students would identify the things about her life that were tragic (e.g., her suicide, her unhappy marriages). If Marilyn Monroe is placed instead in the Hollywood category, students would identify information about her movie career that tied her to the category.
  
  
• Set up categories yourself and ask students to place the people, places and events from the song in the correct location. These categories work well:
  
  
  • Political/International Relations/Military Events
  • Economic/Scientific/Technological Developments
  • Social/Cultural Developments
    
    
• Repeat this project with the movie Forrest Gump. Unbeknownst to him, Forrest, the protagonist, finds himself in the middle of many important American places and events.
  
  
• Using the Timeline Tool, students can place items in their correct place in history. It would be interesting to see if students place the items in the same year as they are in the song.
  
• Challenge the students to think and learn more about the connection between poetry and music. Invite the students to set some of their original poetry to music or rewrite new lyrics for existing music.
  
  

Billy Joel
http://www.billyjoel.com/

Billy Joel’s Web site includes biographical information, song lyrics, and additional links.

American Cultural History: The Twentieth Century
http://kclibrary.nhmccd.edu/decades.html

This collection of Web pages from Kingwood College Library presents events and historical information for the decades of the twentieth century.

Decades: A Study of the 20th Century
http://www.unit5.org/cjhsimc/hotlists/decades/decades_main.htm

This curriculum hotlist is divided by decades of the twentieth century.

Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum
http://www.rockhall.com/programs/plans.asp

These lesson plans provide additional options for exploring music in the classroom.

NCTE/IRA Standards

1 - Students read a wide range of print and nonprint texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works.

3 - Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics).

4 - Students adjust their use of spoken, written, and visual language (e.g., conventions, style, vocabulary) to communicate effectively with a variety of audiences and for different purposes.

5 - Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes.

6 - Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and nonprint texts.

7 - Students conduct research on issues and interests by generating ideas and questions, and by posing problems. They gather, evaluate, and synthesize data from a variety of sources (e.g., print and nonprint texts, artifacts, people) to communicate their discoveries in ways that suit their purpose and audience.

8 - Students use a variety of technological and information resources (e.g., libraries, databases, computer networks, video) to gather and synthesize information and to create and communicate knowledge.

11 - Students participate as knowledgeable, reflective, creative, and critical members of a variety of literacy communities.

12 - Students use spoken, written, and visual language to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information).