Studs Terkel’s “Working”: A Teaching Guide
Teaching Guide. By Rick Ayers. 2001. 208 pages.
Discussion questions and teaching ideas for Terkel’s classic 1974 text.
Order book online.
An invaluable educational resource for introducing Studs Terkel’s classic work of oral history to today’s students. Pulitzer Prize-winning writer/journalist Studs Terkel is world famous for his oral histories, considered an innovator in modern ethnographic research. Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do, Terkel’s most popular book, provides a powerful and original perspective on one of the most basic components of human experience: work. The farmer, receptionist, college professor, mail carrier, stockbroker, athlete, and many others share their daily routines and dreams in their own words. Working has long been recognized as an ideal teaching tool, presenting provocative material certain to engage students, ignite classroom discussion, and inspire thoughtful writing.
Now, helping educators discover a variety of approaches for using Working in the classroom, high school teacher Rick Ayers presents a comprehensive teaching guide to this celebrated classic. With its 200 pages of classroom materials — including questions, topics for discussion, tips for taking oral histories, and a bibliography of related resources — Ayers’ teaching guide is certain to be welcomed by educators everywhere. As an added bonus, it includes a new interview with Terkel himself, offering insight into the making of Working. [Publisher's description.]
Published by The New Press.
ISBN: 9781565846265
Related Resources
Studs Terkel: Conversations with America. Website about the life and work of Studs Terkel, prize-winning author, radio broadcast personality, and people’s oral historian.
Studs Terkel, 1912-2008: A Democracy Now! Special Tribute to the Beloved Oral Historian and Broadcaster series. Studs Terkel can be seen and heard as he interviewed various people on radio, including a rare recording with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King. He also speaks about the medium of radio and what inspired him. Two part special: Nov. 27, 2008 and Nov. 27, 2008 [Submitted by Simin Farkhondeh, Teach Democracy Now! [email protected]]
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Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 13:07 The National Museum of the American Indian is in the early planning stages for an exhibit on the Native people of New York State and the surrounding regions. They seek insights into how teachers are covering historic and contemporary issues around Native Americans in their classrooms so that they can best integrate the needs of students and teachers into the exhibition. If you are currently teaching, or have recently taught content related to Native Americans from the Northeast, they would appreciate hearing your input on the survey at the link below. As a thank you, you will automatically be entered in a raffle to win one of three books.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 7:31 On this day in 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Dep't. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism:http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
Are there other books, films, lessons you recommend to teach about McCarthyism?
History in Pictures - February
On Feb 9, 1950, Wisconsin Senator Joseph McCarthy delivered a speech at the McLure Hotel during which he claimed to hold a list of known communists in the U.S. State Department. The speech grabbed national headlines and launched the paranoia and persecution now known as “McCarthyism.”
Here are classroom resources, including a young adult novel, on McCarthyism: http://zinnedproject.org/posts/tag/mccarthyism
History in Pictures features just a few of the many stories that are often left out of the textbooks. The sources for these stories include: This Week in History from Peace Buttons (http://www.peacebuttons.info/E-News/thisweek.htm), Planning to Change the World: A Social Justice Plan Book for Teachers (http://www.justiceplanbook.com/), This Day in Civil Rights History (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/13684), History.com (http://www.history.com/this-day-in-history), 50 American Revolutions You Are Not Supposed to Know (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/11632), A People's History of the United States (http://zinnedproject.org/posts/67), Black Facts Online (http://www.blackfacts.com), Today in Labor History (http://www.unionist.com/big-labor/today-in-labor-history), and many more.
Zinn Education Project
Thursday, February 9th at 7:04 Happy birthday Alice Walker. A good day to listen to one of Walker's interviews on Democracy Now!.
Please share your favorite book, essay, or quote by Alice Walker.
Alice Walker on "Overcoming Speechlessness: A Poet Encounters the Horror in Rwanda, Eastern Congo an
www.democracynow.org
As the 2010 Pulitzer Prize winners are announced, we speak with the first African American woman to be awarded a Pulitzer Prize for fiction: author, poet and activist Alice Walker. She was awarded the 1983 Pulitzer for her novel The Color Purple. She was written many books since then. Her latest, ju...
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