Using songs to teach reading and writing, and ICT

• Target learners: mid teenagers  (or adults) at B2 level
• Textbook: Malcolm Mann & Steve Taylore-Knowles (2013). Laser B1. London: Macmillan Education. Unit 8 "The problem page"
• Unit theme: relationships
• ICT resources integrated: “Fast Car” (first recorded by Tracy Chapman in 1988)
• Skills: mediated by ICT: reading and writing - not mediated by ICT: speaking
• Linguistic aims: Narrative tenses (present and past)

Before reading

In this lesson, we'll work with a song called 'Fast Car'. This is a photo of the singer. Do you think she is a woman or a man? Why? Are there any prejudices involved?

What do you think the song may be about?

While reading

Type of activity: Jigsaw task
Class organization: Small groups
Situation: Ls will be given different stanzas from the song with some questions to discuss. Once they have discuss them in groups, they'll have to tell the rest of the class what their stanza is about. One or two speaker from each group must be assigned.

Here are the lyrics and some questions to consider -

You got a fast car
I want a ticket to anywhere
Maybe we make a deal
Maybe together we can get somewhere
Any place is better
Starting from zero got nothing to lose
Maybe we'll make something
Me myself I got nothing to prove

• Who do you think the singer is speaking to?
• Is the singer happy? How do you know?
• What do you think the deal is?
• Why do you think they repeatedly use the word maybe? Why is this word effective?
• Any place is better than where? 

You got a fast car
I got a plan to get us out of here
I've been working at the convenience store
Managed to save just a little bit of money
Won't have to drive too far
Just 'cross the border and into the city
You and I can both get jobs
And finally see what it means to be living 

• What is the plan?
• What is a convenience store? Why do you think the singer wants to leave?
• Where do they want to go? 
• Where do you think they live now?
• Why do they want to go to the city?
• What job do you think they want?

See my old man's got a problem
He lives with the bottle that's the way it is
He says his body's too old for working
His body's too young to look like his
My mama went off and left him
She wanted more from life than he could give
I said somebody's got to take care of him
So I quit school and that's what I did 

• What is the problem with the singer's Dad?
• How old do you think he is?
• How old do you think he looks? Why do you think this?
• Why did the Mum leave? 
• What sacrifices did this make the singer make?
• How do you think the singer feels towards these sacrifices?
• Why does the singer want to escape?

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so we can fly away?
We gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way 

So remember when we were driving driving in your car
Speed so fast I felt like I was drunk
City lights lay out before us
And your arm felt nice wrapped 'round my shoulder
And I had a feeling that I belonged
I had a feeling I could be someone, be someone, be someone 

• What does the fast car symbolise?
• How has the singer's desire to leave change? 
• Why is the singer now presenting an ultimatum? 
• How does the singer feel in the car?
• Why does she feel this way?
• Where have they travelled to? 
• What does 'round mean? Why has it been written like this?
• Why has the word 'someone' been repeated?

You got a fast car
We go cruising, entertain ourselves
You still ain't got a job
And I work in a market as a checkout girl
I know things will get better
You'll find work and I'll get promoted
We'll move out of the shelter
Buy a bigger house and live in the suburbs 

• Has life in the city changed? If so, how?
• Is it better or worse? Why do you think this?
• Where do they live? 
• Do you think the singer is hopeful? How do you know?

You got a fast car

I got a job that pays all our bills

You stay out drinking late at the bar

See more of your friends than you do of your kids

I'd always hoped for better

Thought maybe together you and me find it

I got no plans I ain't going nowhere

So take your fast car and keep on driving 

• Do you think the singer is male or female?
• What has changed?
• What other words can we use to describe the singer? Is she still hopeful? Is she still hopeful towards her partner?
• What can we infer about the partner? How is he different to the singer?
• What does the last line mean? What decision has the singer made? Why do you think this has happened? 
• How does this reflect what happened to her own parents? 

You got a fast car
Is it fast enough so you can fly away?
You gotta make a decision
Leave tonight or live and die this way

• Why has this verse changed from 'we' to 'you'?

After reading

1. Reflections on the whole song -

• Do you think the song is positive or negative?
• Do you think the singer's dreams of city life was all it lived up to be?
• Did the singers hopeful attitude change as the song progressed?
• What do you think the meaning of the song is?
• What does the fast car symbolise?

2. Find information about the author of the song and create her biography. Is the song she wrote the story of her life?
Save your work as .pdf, and upload your file here: https://padlet.com/carla1487_cf