Protest Songs Booklet and Unit Of Work

This booklet explores protest songs, including looking at existing protest songs, and guides the students into creating their own.

The booklet starts with some flexible starter pages which can be used for retrieval practice or listening etc.
Then, in the first few lessons, students study Where is the Love by Black Eyed Peas. They will analyse the lyrics, then learn the hook and chords on the keyboard. The final stage will be putting it together in a group with the chords, hook, lyrics, and an optional percussion and guitar part (equipment dependant). There is an optional remix which can be done, where students can explore arranging the instrumental parts in a more creative way.
Students then move on to looking at the lyrics of Free Nelson Mandela. Without listening to the original song, students are required to put together a creative vocal response using the lyrics of the song.
The final part of the booklet looks at different stimuli for a protest song, and in pairs/groups, creating the lyrics, followed by the backing music, for their own chosen protest song topic.
At the back there are several other sets of lyrics for other protest songs (Dear Mr President - Pink, Mercy Mercy Me - Marvin Gaye), as they may be a useful resource to study during a starter activity.
There is assessment criteria and a space to award grades along with feedback on the assessment performance of the students’ own protest song.
A knowledge organiser is located on the final page.

*The booklet assumes some work has been done previously on creating chords/a tune. Ideal topic with year 8 or year 9.