TeachRock

Motivational Activity:

1. As a Quick Write activity, instruct students to consider their favorite song at the moment and then write about the song. Direct students to focus their writing on what they know about the song’s creation and/or its artist.
2. Instruct students to share their writing with each other in small groups. Then ask students (consider documenting student responses on the board):
   • Did the featured artist for the song you wrote about write and record the song solely by themself? Who may have helped them in this creative process?
   • Why might it be beneficial to work with other people when writing and recording a song?
   • Might an artist’s location, culture, or identity impact what or how they create music?

Procedure

1. Play Clip 1, The Temptations – “My Girl”. Then, ask students:
   • Do you know the song, “My Girl” by The Temptations? If so, how are you familiar with it?
   • What did you hear in the song? How would you describe its sound, lyrics, or feeling?
   • Do the Temptations remind you of any artists today?
2. Organize students into pairs. Inform students that they are going to examine Motown records, the record company for which the Temptations recorded, “My Girl.” Distribute Handout – Encyclopedia of Detroit Entry, “Motown Records”. Review the directions on the handout, instructing students to work together in pairs to analyze the text and answer the questions. Then, have pairs share their answers from the handout with the class.
3. Display Image 1, “School District Boundaries, Detroit Public Schools, Center District, September 1959” Map. Explain to students that the map was created by the Detroit Public Schools system. Request volunteers to read the text on the right aloud, including the Legend text from the map at the bottom left corner. Then, ask students:
   • What does the map and text suggest about the racial dynamics of Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s?
4. Continue to display Image 1, “School District Boundaries, Detroit Public Schools, Center District, September 1959” Map and organize the class into small groups of four students each. Explain to students that they will be working in groups for the remainder of the lesson and will now be participating in a group activity to gain knowledge about the cultural and economic conditions in Detroit when Motown Records was founded.
5. Distribute Handout – Detroit Under Fire to student groups. Inform students that each group will examine four issues influencing racial dynamics in Detroit when Motown Records was founded in 1959: Education, Employment, Housing, and Urban Renewal. Review the directions on the handout with students. Once completed, ask for volunteers to share about one of the four issues they examined until all four issues are shared. Then, ask students:
   • Considering your examination, what kind of challenges might African Americans have faced if they wanted to start their own business in Detroit?
   • How might these issues have impacted Berry Gordy, Jr.’s founding of Motown Records?
   • What might Motown Records have offered to African Americans in Detroit and the city-at-large?
6. Display Image 2, “The Motown Sound: The Sound of Young America” Flyer. Explain to students that this is a flyer created by Motown Records that would often be found inside music magazines to advertise the company. Then, ask students:
   • What is the Motown slogan in the top right of the flyer? (The Sound of Young America)
   • Thinking of the handout you read and analyzed about the company, what was the nickname for the company’s headquarters building in Detroit? (Hitsville U.S.A)
   • What do these slogans and nicknames suggest about Motown’s audience?
   • Who was Motown’s music intended to appeal to? Who may have been listening to it?
7. Inform students that they will now be exploring the song “My Girl” more deeply. Distribute Handout – “‘My Girl’-The Temptations (1964)” Essay with Graphic Organizer. Explain that every student will read and analyze the “My Girl” essay and then the group will collectively complete the graphic organizer. Review the directions on the essay and graphic organizer with students and, if necessary, model how to fill out the graphic organizer.
8. Once student groups have completed the activity, ask students:
   • What may have been the benefit of including many people in the writing, recording, and quality control process of “My Girl”?
   • How may this process be different from the way other artists and record companies operate?
   • What about these people was interesting or stood out to you?

Summary Activity:

1. Play Clip 1, The Temptations – “My Girl” again. Instruct students to consider what they now know about the song, and the city of Detroit in the 1950s and 1960s, as they are viewing the video. Then, ask students:
   • What do you notice in the song or the performance that you didn’t notice in your first viewing?
   • How might the cultural and economic conditions in Detroit during this time inform your knowledge about “My Girl”?
   • Why do you think this song is still popular and commonly heard today?
2. Direct students to consider what they wrote about their favorite song at the moment at the beginning of the lesson. Then, ask students:
   • How might cultural and economic conditions have influenced the creation of your favorite song at the moment? What might those conditions have been?

Extension Activities:

1. Assign students to independently research the origins of another famous Motown song of their choice. Using a similar documentation method as shown in this lesson, students will record who was involved in the writing, recording, and production of the song. Then, students will present their research and documentation.
2. Assign students to research events in Detroit during the Civil Rights Movement such as the 1963 Walk to Freedom or the 1967 Detroit Riot/Uprising. As they research, students will consider how these events may have influenced those working at Motown Records and the music that they were producing.

Handout – “‘My Girl’-The Temptations (1964)” Essay with Graphic Organizer Handout – Detroit Under Fire Handout – Encyclopedia of Detroit Entry, “Motown Records”

College, Career, and Civic Life (C3) Social Studies Standards

Geography

• D2.Geo.2.9-12. Use maps, satellite images, photographs, and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
• D2.Geo.5.9-12. Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.
• D2.Geo.8.9-12. Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.

History

• D2.His.1.9-12. Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.

Common Core State Standards

College and Career Readiness Reading Information Text Standards for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.2 Determine a central idea of a text and analyze its development over the course of the text, including how it emerges and is shaped and refined by specific details; provide an objective summary of the text.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.9-10.4 Determine the meaning of words and phrases as they are used in a text, including figurative, connotative, and technical meanings; analyze the cumulative impact of specific word choices on meaning and tone (e.g., how the language of a court opinion differs from that of a newspaper).
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.RI.11-12.1 Cite strong and thorough textual evidence to support analysis of what the text says explicitly as well as inferences drawn from the text, including determining where the text leaves matters uncertain.

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Writing for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.9-10.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects to answer a question (including a self-generated question) or solve a problem; narrow or broaden the inquiry when appropriate; synthesize multiple sources on the subject, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas, concepts, and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.11-12.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. (Grade-specific expectations for writing types are defined in standards 1-3 above.)

College and Career Readiness Anchor Standards for Speaking and Listening for Grades 9-12

• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 9-10 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse media or formats (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.9-10.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence clearly, concisely, and logically such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and task.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.1 Initiate and participate effectively in a range of collaborative discussions (one-on-one, in groups, and teacher-led) with diverse partners on grades 11-12 topics, texts, and issues, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.2 Integrate multiple sources of information presented in diverse formats and media (e.g., visually, quantitatively, orally) in order to make informed decisions and solve problems, evaluating the credibility and accuracy of each source and noting any discrepancies among the data.
• CCSS.ELA-Literacy.SL.11-12.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence, conveying a clear and distinct perspective, such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning, alternative or opposing perspectives are addressed, and the organization, development, substance, and style are appropriate to purpose, audience, and a range of formal and informal tasks.

Social Studies – National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS)

• Theme 1: Culture
• Theme 3: People, Place, and Environments
• Theme 4: Individual Development and Identity