On January 28th, 1985, dozens of the time period’s most popular musicians gathered in Los Angeles to record a charity song for African famine relief. Setting stylistic differences and egos aside, they collaborated on a song that would make history. This documentary, which debuted at the 2024 Sundance Film Festival, examines how the song came to be, who was involved, and the implications of the recording.

This Doc (printable OR digital) asks students 9 thought-provoking questions for during and after viewing the film. This is NOT a guided viewing assignment; it's a series of thought-provoking questions that asks them to consider the film as a whole and to synthesize what they might already know about these musicians and the event with what they saw in the film. They are asked about the title, the lyrics to "We Are The World", the impact of the event, who planned the event and why, the artists who participated, the arrangement of the recording, the public's response, the impact of the song during this particular time period, etc.

I use this with my high school elective "Lyrics as Literature" with 9-12th graders, but I'd feel comfortable using it with upper middle school students as well.