WORDS ON THE GO. They were called hobos. Beginning in the late 1800s, transient migratory workers moved from town to town and state to state by hopping.

WORDS ON THE GO

They were called hobos.

Beginning in the late 1800s, transient migratory workers moved from town to town

and state to state by hopping on slow moving trains

in search of temporary work and a sense of freedom and

adventure

Hobos differed from bums in that they actively sought work instead of relying

on handouts

They craved freedom and the opportunity to decide the course of their own lives.

They had a strict moral and ethical code which included setting a good example, helping out other hobos, never littering or leaving a mess for others to pick up, and encouraging runaway children to return home

Famous people who have lived the hobo life include:

Famous authors such as Jack Kerouac,

Jack London, George Orwell,and John Steinbeck.

Supreme Court Justice William O. Douglas.

Burl Ives, the voice of Sam the Snowman and narrator of the

holiday cartoon special, Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer.

Hobos used an array of symbols and patterns which they would put up on train yards and on

the backs of sign posts to alert other hobos to both danger

and opportunity.

You can find many more hobo signs on the internet. I imagine we don’t see as many on signposts and train yards in 2011.

Now get ready for some activities:Choose one

Make up your own “hobo” signs to alert your friends to danger and/or opportunity.

Make a list or collection of common signs that we use nowadays to send messages to friends (think emotocons) or code symbols used now and/or in the past.

Do a brief webquest on hobos to see what else you can learn and use your info to write the hobo’s bio poem.

And finally, in class

I’ll give you a brief article about hobos to read.

After reading it, each table group needs to write at least four good FCAT type questions about the content, main idea, vocab, making inferences, etc and give them to me.

I’ll make a “practice test” and we will see how we do. (Not graded; for fun and practice only)