Did you know that.   George Harrison wrote "Here Comes the Sun" on a cloudy, rainy day?   Johnny Cash's hit song "Ring of Fire" wasn't by him--it was about him?   the most popular song during the Great Depression was, paradoxically, "Happy Days Are Here Again"?   True Stories Behind the Songs , by Sandra Heyer, continues the True Stories tradition -- with a twist. The text features lyrics for eight popular songs along with real, believe-it-or-not stories about the songs and their songwriters. Companion stories related to the topic of the song round out the units. To see a sample unit, please go to pearsoneltusa.com/sampleunits.   Teachers are encouraged to download the songs from their favorite website or to use a version they already own. Or you can purchase recommended recordings on iTunes.

A link on the True Stories website (www.pearsoneltusa.com/truestories) will take you directly to the playlist. For a limited time, your Pearson representative will provide a free, legally copied CD of all the songs with a minimum order of 20 copies of True Stories Behind the Songs . Please go to www.pearsoneltusa.com/specialists  to find your nearest representative.   Features: Exercises for vocabulary development, reading comprehension, and writing and speaking practice help students develop language proficiency.

A comprehensive To the Teacher section gives background information about the songs and stories as well as teaching tips. An access code at the front of the book enables teachers and students to download recordings of the stories free of charge at www.pearsoneltusa.com/truestories .