Last updated: August 2, 2023
Lesson Plan
Chapter 8 Lesson Plan: The Watsons Go to Birmingham 1963
- Grade Level:
- Middle School: Sixth Grade through Eighth Grade
- Subject:
- Science,Social Studies
- Lesson Duration:
- 60 Minutes
Essential Question
How does music impact your car ride experience?
Objective
In this lesson, students will read about the evolution of automotive audio technology, in preparation for conducting short oral history interviews of adults’ listening experiences.
Background
The Watsons are very excited when Dad shows them the record player he installed in the
Brown Bomber. While the technology seems almost futuristic, car audio in general was still
developing in the 1960s. In fact, AM/FM car radio hadn’t been around very long either.
Preparation
Gather materials:
- Car audio timeline (provided)
- Recording devices (smartphones, tablets, pen and paper, etc.)
Materials
A timeline of how audio has changed in automobiles.
Download Chapter 8 Car Audio Timeline
A worksheet teachers can use for the Chapter 8 Lesson Plan.
Procedure
- Distribute copies of the car audio timeline (provided) and ask them to read through the various benchmarks, underlining facts they find particularly interesting or perplexing.
- Ask students to share one thing they learned with the person next to them.
- Introduce the activity: The Watsons Go to Birmingham—1963 provides some insight into what it was like to suddenly have a record player in the car. Explain to students that historians collect real-life stories about events, times, and places. One way they do this is by interviewing people. The students will gather first-hand accounts of what it was like riding in a car or taking public transit before the advent of streaming music.
- Distribute interview worksheet and go over instructions: for homework, students will interview adults across three generations, bringing their findings back to class.
- As a class, brainstorm people to interview beyond the obvious family members and teachers (babysitter, someone at a music store or a place of worship, etc.) with the goal of finding at least one person in each decade of life.
- The students are to develop two additional interview questions: one now as a class and one as homework.
- Day two: Lead a discussion of students’ findings. Guiding questions might include: What was the most interesting thing you learned from your interviewees? Do the stories change how you think about your own music-listening practices? If so, how? Do younger people listen to a wider variety of music? Are older listeners more loyal to specific artists?
- To shorten this activity: Interview just one person.
- To lengthen this activity: Ask students to reflect on the interviewing process, by considering one or more of the following questions: What was challenging about the interview process? What would you do differently next time? What are the benefits and drawbacks of oral history as a method of learning about a particular historical topic?