Writing a 5-paragraph essay
  on working

Getting Started

You will need to take notes outside the classroom for this assignment. Here is basic information about taking fieldnotes: http://www.flatheadreservation.org/index.php/phs or http://www.edheritage.org/forms/fieldnotes2.htm

Get copies of essays about people at work to read as homework. What details does the author include? How do you think the writer did the research? How might he or she have found the information that is used in the writing? Here’s an example: http://www.telluridenews.com/articles/2005/09/01/news/opinion/opinion01.txt

Examples of student writing about work:

I would prefer that you read these at our class’s new wiki: http://working.pbwiki.com/Essays%20about%20Work since we will be posting your work on this site. The password is “umphrey”—you don’t need to log in to read the essays, but you will need to log in to publish your own work or to post comments on other people’s work.

Note: Though you can log in using “umphrey” as the password, even better would be if you registered and created your own password. Then any writing you put on the site will have your name on it, which will make things simpler. To register, you need to have an email address that isn’t blocked--not your school one. If you have such an address, register here: https://my.pbwiki.com/ After you register, the wiki will send you an email confirmation. Once you have this, you can log on to the wiki (http://working.pbwiki.com) using your own password.

Read “Where I Learned What it Meant,” “Paper, Plastic, or Box,” and “Great Grandpa’s Dream”

These are also available on the Montana Heritage Project website:

“Paper, Plastic or Box?” “Great Grandpa’s Dream” “Where I Learned What it Meant”

Doing an Interview

Make appointments to do an interview with someone about their work. A grandparent would be good. Make a list of 20 questions to ask during the interview. You may pick someone whose work at school may be under-appreciated or is not widely understood. Or pick someone in your family or a community member whose work you would like to know more about.

Friday: You have the option of using class time to read or work on book reports (due October 23) Book Report Form

Monday (October 9): Interview a person about his or her work. Find at least 10 pieces of information about what they do and how they feel about it. You might explore how they got involved in their work to start with, what they like most and least about it, what a typical day is like, what the most memorable experiences they have had, etc. Be sure to write down some verbatim quotes to use in your writing. Be sure to describe the setting of the interview as well as a description of the person you interview. Jot down notes as you do the interview and then, the same day, write detailed paragraph based on your interview. If you got more information that fits in one unified paragraph, write up a set of field notes (more organized than your jottings but less formal than paragraphs) to save the information before your memory fades.

Tuesday: Make observations of a place (a grocery store, auto track, football practice), an event (car races, pep assembly), or someone working (a day care teacher, a football coach, a custodian)--something you may be able to use in your writing. Be sure to take several pages of notes. Get at least 10 pieces of information from that observation. What do they look like? What is the place like? Describe them doing things, both what they do and how they do it. Explain what they are trying to accomplish.

Wednesday: Brainstorm about what’s interesing or unique or puzzling about the person and his or her work. How might the world would be different without the work they do? How has doing that work shaped his or her perceptions? What difference does the work they are doing make? Focus on your thoughts and opinions about what’s interesting or important about this person’s work.

Create a spider concept map http://classes.aces.uiuc.edu/ACES100/Mind/graphics/spiderb.gif as you brainstorm ways in which the person’s work is important. Use this concept map as a pre-writing activity to stimulate and organize your thoughts. Then write at least one paragraph, beginning with a clearly stated topic sentence, such as “Jim’s work as a food delivery driver is an important link in the food chain that makes the school function” or “The way Jim does his work provides a revealing glimpse into the sort of person he is.”

Optional research: It’s always possible to make an essay more interesting by adding facts, statistics or other information gathered by library or internet research. How many people are involved in the industry your worker is part of? How did the occupation develop in history? What workers served an analagous role in societies of the past? (You might, for example, gather some information about the Pony Express so you can write a comparison of a UPS driver to pony express riders).

Thursday: Organize the information gathered from the above sources into an outline that includes an introduction, three main points, and a conclusion. Each main point should be written as a complete sentence (these will become the topic sentences for the essay). Under each main point, list the supporting details that can be included.

Friday:Write a draft of the 5-paragraph essay. Each paragraph should begin with a topic sentence and should include descriptions, facts, anecdotes, quotes, or reasons that support the topic sentence.