We Will Start The Fire (In the Minds of Students) by Justin Chandler, Alexandra Ramirez, and Steven Leonhardt This music­based lesson plan is built in mind for usage in a 7th grade ELA or Social Studies classroom. Due to the suggestive content of the latter portion of the song, it is suggested that the song be restricted to 2:48. Media:​
For this lesson plan, the song of choice to invigorate student interest was Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire,” an experimental rock song released in 1989. Though the single did not receive any awards during its prime, it was listed as number one on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 for the week of December 9th, 1989, reached an overall year position of 35 for the same chart for the year 1990, and​
was nominated for the Grammy Award for Record of the Year. Lyrics: ​
The complete lyrics of “We Didn’t Start the Fire” are listed below, with the recommended portion for teaching highlighted*: Harry Truman, Doris Day, Red China, Johnnie Ray
South Pacific, Walter Winchell, Joe DiMaggio
Joe McCarthy, Richard Nixon, Studebaker, Television
North Korea, South Korea, Marilyn Monroe
Rosenbergs, H-Bomb, Sugar Ray, Panmunjom
Brando, The King And I, and The Catcher In The Rye
Eisenhower, Vaccine, England's got a new queen
Marciano, Liberace, Santayana goodbye
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Joseph Stalin, Malenkov, Nasser and Prokofiev
Rockefeller, Campanella, Communist Bloc
Roy Cohn, Juan Peron, Toscanini, Dacron
Dien Bien Phu Falls, Rock Around the Clock
Einstein, James Dean, Brooklyn's got a winning team
Davy Crockett, Peter Pan, Elvis Presley, Disneyland
Bardot, Budapest, Alabama, Khrushchev
Princess Grace, Peyton Place, Trouble in the Suez
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
1 No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Little Rock, Pasternak, Mickey Mantle, Kerouac
Sputnik, Chou En-Lai, Bridge On The River Kwai
Lebanon, Charles de Gaulle, California baseball
Starkweather, Homicide, Children of Thalidomide...
Buddy Holly, Ben-Hur, Space Monkey, Mafia
Hula Hoops, Castro, Edsel is a no-go
U-2, Syngman Rhee, payola and Kennedy
Chubby Checker, Psycho, Belgians in the Congo
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Hemingway, Eichmann, Stranger in a Strange Land
Dylan, Berlin, Bay of Pigs invasion
Lawrence of Arabia, British Beatlemania
Ole Miss, John Glenn, Liston beats Patterson
Pope Paul, Malcolm X, British Politician Sex
J.F.K. blown away, what else do I have to say
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
Birth control, Ho Chi Minh, Richard Nixon back again
Moonshot, Woodstock, Watergate, punk rock
Begin, Reagan, Palestine, Terror on the airline
Ayatollah's in Iran, Russians in Afghanistan
Wheel of Fortune, Sally Ride, heavy metal, suicide
Foreign debts, homeless Vets, AIDS, Crack, Bernie Goetz
Hypodermics on the shores, China's under martial law
Rock and Roller Cola wars, I can't take it anymore
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
2 But when we are gone
It will still burn on and on and on and on
And on and on and on and on...
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
We didn't start the fire
It was always burning
Since the world's been turning
We didn't start the fire
No, we didn't light it
But we tried to fight it
* This portion is highlighted to ensure that the more suggestive content is not utilized, though this can be amended to suit your educational demographic. Standards: ​
The Common Core Standards of which this plan is based on are: English Language Arts: Reading, Informational Texts: ● CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RI.7.5​
: “Analyze the structure ​
an author uses to organize a text, including how the major sections contribute to the whole and to the development of the ideas. History/Social Studies Literacy: ● CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RH.6­8.6​
: “Identify aspects of a text that reveal an author's point of view or purpose (e.g., loaded language, inclusion or avoidance of particular facts).” English Language Arts: Speaking and Listening: ● CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.SL.7.5​
: “Include multimedia components and visual displays in presentations to clarify claims and findings and emphasize salient points.” 3 Billy Joel’s song fully encapsulates these standards with the activities to be mentioned later. Activity one’s emphasis on listening to the song excerpt and previewing its overall meaning as a class is essential to discovering “how the major sections contribute to the whole” (CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RI.7.5) while dividing the song into its distinct decadal parts and having the split­class analyze these verses will “reveal an author’s point of view” (CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RH.6­8.6). By rewriting the song verses sans the chorus to fit modern decades, students will the opportunity to create their own structure of informational texts of their creation based on the original song (RI.7.5) as well as express their point of view based on the references chosen in their lyrics (RH.6­8.6). Finally, the song’s multi­faceted approach to presenting historical references and facts in rapid succession can be visualized with a collage in activity three to “clarify claims and findings” through “multimedia components” (SL.7.5). Activities To fully invigorate learning through the Common Core Standards and Billy Joel’s song, the students will participate in three distinct activities. Along with group work and penning their findings,students will also answer high order thinking questions in order to better comprehend the lyrics in the activity given, whether it is given verbally during the discussions or written down as an assessment. These questions will also help students analyze the lyrics better. Activity One​
: Teacher Notes: Billy Joel’s “We Didn’t Start the Fire” will be introduced by handing students a copy of the lyrics only to where the educators find appropriate. Students will briefly look over the lyrics and then play the audio that specifically stops at where it is cut. The song is played for very quickly resulting the teacher needing to stop between verses (CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.SL.7.5). In the stops the students will have the opportunity to write down any references they recognize and anything they can come up with that connects to that topic, name, or event. Higher order thinking questions are being provided to get the students to generate ideas of the purpose of the song and to answer further questions in discussion. The higher order thinking questions are designed to fit with the CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RH.6­8.6 standard. After a class discussion the students will be divided into groups to analyze four lines of lyrics per group. The way the lyrics will be divided into is dependent upon class size. Students will be given roughly 10­15 minutes to research (resources within the classroom such as cell phones, books, encyclopedias, etc.) about specific references and people. They will research information of the time period and theme. In doing this the students will hit CCSS.ELA­LITERACY.RI.7.5 and be able to back up their evidence with the research that they conduct. The class will come together and be able to share aloud the results and findings everyone found; it would be helpful to have a visual aid—writing simple bullets under a topic would be appropriate. It is important for the educator to have technological skills pertaining to MP3 formatting and/or access to Youtube to use the media. He or she must also have general knowledge about the song’s history, Billy Joel’s background information, and a majority of the 4 references within the song to enhance the class discussion and tie connections to the song’s thematic elements. It would also be wise to be up­to­date on current events to make the connection to Higher Order Thinking Question three. Resources required for this activity: ● Half­sheet copies of lyrics to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for each student excluding the lyrics past 2:48. ● Computer with speakers and either: ○ Youtube capabilities (if the school does not have the website listed on their blocked sites for students) ○ MP3 playing and Cutting software Step­by­Step Instructions: This activity will consist of two portions: a. Analyzing the whole excerpt as a class 1) The educator will hand out printed copies of the highlighted lyrics to the students, preferably in half­sheets to save paper. 2) The educator will play “We Didn’t Start the Fire” through two possible methods: a Youtube video found ​
here​
(the music video itself is not pertinent to the activity, so simply playing the audio on the computer with the projector off will suffice) or through an mp3 download and trimmed down in time with MP3 Cutter software which is located ​
here​
. For either method, the audio will be stopped at 2:48. 3) During the audio play, the educator will stop in between verses and ask students to write down any references they recognize and any miscellaneous thoughts that come to mind regarding Joel’s theme and how it is applicable to today’s time (this will be a precursor to Activity Two). 4) After sufficient time is given listening to the audio, the educator will have a whole­class discussion guided by the Higher Order Thinking Questions listed below regarding the song’s meaning as a whole, where answers will be taken verbally via hand raising with appropriate wait time for students to consider all possibilities. b. Analyzing the verses (sans chorus) in groups 1) The class will be divided into groups to analyze four lines of lyrics per group (the first verse after the chorus will be split into two from “Joseph Stalin” to “Around the Clock”). This leads to seven sets of lyrics, so the amount of groups will be dependent on the number of students. For example, a class of roughly 28 students will be in seven groups of four with any additional students less than four sent to other groups, while a class of 24 students will be in six groups of four and any remaining students less than four will be sent to other groups, with the teacher taking the last lyric set for analysis. Groups will be created via count­off to six or seven depending on the student count. 5 2) With the groups created and lyrics in thought, the students will do a quick research on the specific references consisting of the time period (specific year if possible), any themes present, and how these references contribute to the chorus of “We Didn’t Start the Fire.” Students are allowed to use prior knowledge, any encyclopedias present in the classroom, and their cell phones provided they list the websites they use. 3) The students will write down their findings on one sheet of paper with one student providing at least one contribution. 4) After a set amount of time (fifteen minutes minimum), the class will come back together and the groups will reveal their findings and opinions on the song’s purpose. Higher Order Thinking Questions​
: 1) How does the song reveal the time period it is written in and how does it portray the society during the time? 2) What is the message the artist is trying to convey in the song based on the whole group discussion? 3) How do the lyrics apply to your time period and how does this relate to Joel’s theme? 4) What do the lyrics contribute to the meaning as a whole based on the references used and their collective tie­in to the chorus? Activity Two Teacher Notes In groups, the students will rewrite the song verses sans the chorus to fit modern decades. This will grant students the opportunity to create their own structure of informational texts of their creation (RI.7.5) as well as express their point of view based on the references chosen in their lyrics (RH.6­8.6). To complete this activity, students will be paired up into groups and each group will be given a different timeframe in which they have to rewrite the verses. Since the song came out in 1989, the time frames will be spaced into decades like: 1990­2000, 2000­2010, and 2010­current. In their given timelines, they will research people and events that seem relevant to the theme of the song, but in a more modern setting. While doing so, they will show what modern materials they chose to represent the characters in the song and why they chose those materials/how it fits into what the song means. To complete this activity, teacher will need to have an understanding of appropriate people, events, and materials that the students can use. They need to also the context in which the song was written so to better explain it to the students. Resources required for this activity: 6 ● Magazines or newspapers with information relevant to the time and activity (these can be physical or digital; if they are digital the teacher needs to help the students find websites with reliable resources) ● If the students will be doing digital research, the teacher needs to provide computers or laptops for the students to use ● Half­sheet copies of lyrics to “We Didn’t Start the Fire” for each student excluding the lyrics past 2:48 Step­by­Step instructions: 1) First students will be placed into the same groups they were in for the first activity. Their instructions will be to analyze their song and rewrite their given verses in the time period or decade they are given. 2) Next students will research people and events, with materials and appropriate websites from the teacher, and rewrite the song with their research. 3) Finally, after creating their own modern version, the groups will explain who and what they chose to substitute for the existing characters in the song and why they are appropriate choices, by answering higher order thinking questions. They will write down or type up their groups collective answers and submit them to the teacher. It will up to the teacher on how the students turn in their answers, whether it be digital or physical. The higher order questions aim to help students analyze the song from the time it was published and compare it and its relevance to a future time period. Higher Order Thinking Questions​
: 1) Why did you choose the people and events you did? 2) How do your characters and events fit into the theme of the song? 3) How does the meaning of the song still apply in the timeframe you were given based on similarities between characters and events mentioned in the song and information from your research? 4) Come up with an alternative name for the song, based on the decade you researched. Activity Three Teacher Notes Having broken down the song and rewritten it, the students will finally make a visual collage of the important events of each decade consisting of reprints of primary documents, secondary documents (i.e. newspaper articles found online), and pictures of key figures, all of which will be pasted together in one historical collage to be posted on the classroom wall after each group presents. This activity continues the analysis of the song based on the sections and whole of the song (RI.7.5) as well as the main point Joel was attempting to make historically (RH.6­8.6). It also has students interacting with media to create a presentation and then the use of media to explain their material through “multimedia components” (SL.7.5). 7 To complete this activity, teacher will need to have an understanding of appropriate people, events, and materials that the students can use. They need to also the context in which the song was written so to better explain it to the students. They will also have to prepare a method of collecting the presentations from students; whether it be digital copies published online or sent to the teacher through email or hard copies is up to the teacher. Resources required for this activity: ● Magazines or newspapers with information relevant to the time and activity (these can be physical or digital; if they are digital the teacher needs to help the students find websites with reliable resources such as NC Wise or any library database) ● Computers capable of presenting the multimedia content created by the students. Step­by­Step instructions 1) First, students in their groups for the previous activities will gather visual representations of people and events from their decade and create a collage. 2) Next, the groups will present their work from activities 2 & 3. That means they will show their rewritten lyrics for the verses and then they will show the collage of images they collected, all based on the decade they were given. These presentation should last around 5­10 minutes. 3) After presentations, there will be a class discussion, revolving around the final higher order thinking questions that the students will answer with their previous group members. The students will be given 15 minutes minimum to answer the questions before coming back for class discussion to talk about and answer the questions as a class. 4) Finally, the class will gather all of the collages and create a historical collage showing a progress from the 90’s to the current time period. Higher Order Thinking Questions: 1) Based on the meaning of the original song, the information that you collected, saw from other groups, what might this might imply about how the theme can still be applied to modern times? 2) If this same song was remade using more modern times with modern terms and people, would the meaning shift at all and what do you think would be the reception of a song like this? 3) Based on the research of your group and the class, what other themes or messages can you find when you apply more modern terms? If there are other themes, explain what they are and support your argument with the information gathered, either by your own group or something you saw from another group. 4) Finally, how has this activity broadened your understanding of these historical events and figures and how can you apply this knowledge? 8 Developmental Dimensions of Adolescents:​
Billy Joel’s song and the activities attached to its usage has the benefit of correlating with the numerous developmental changes of adolescents as elaborated on by NMSA’s article “This We Believe”, preferably middle grades students. According to the research presented by the NMSA, students in this age range develop morally by noticing the flaws in other individuals but are reluctant to acknowledge their own; this is a full thematic element in “We Didn’t Start the Fire” as the main chorus alludes to the previous generation causing the degression of society, and Activity Two’s focus on rewriting the song to fit the most recent decades exhibits how students may point to the ‘90’s as one of the decades to kickstart modern issues. In a cognitive­intellectual realm, young adolescents are also increasing in their ability to think in concrete and abstract terms, so the analysis of the whole excerpt in Activity One would coincide with the abstract purpose and intent of Billy Joel, while dividing into groups and considering the individual verses with differing years would focus on their concrete learning skills of the song’s social and political contexts. Media Literacy Connections: ​
These aforementioned activities correspond to the ideas of media literacy. All media are constructed carefully and with intent, and reflecting Joel’s careful construction of the song students through Activity Three will keep this same philosophy by the construction of their collages with newspaper articles, photos, and other miscellaneous items reflecting the groups’ chosen decades, and also through Activity Two’s creation of modern lyrics by carefully choosing key moments in the past twenty years. Media is also able to have social and political implications, and Joel’s song has social and political messages abound; Activity One pertains to analyzing the lyrics as a whole to determine the meaning behind such presidential and military references and compartmentalizing the lyrics for differing decades, Activity Two takes the same process but under the scope of the recent occurrences, and Activity Three gives a visual flair to the frequent political and social scopes Joel provides. 9