Re: GEN: Dewey Decimal and Reference Books

[Catherine L Purgahn <purgahn@TENET.EDU>]

 I agree with you. Memorizing that the 900's are for history and geography
doesn't mean students make the connection to go to that area when they
are looking for a book on a country, war, etc. (At least middle school
don't) I use activities that require "hands on" experience. I've seen an
improvement in the students'ability to use the card catalog,locate that
book on the shelf, and find information in general.

Catherine Purgahn
purgahn@tenet.edu
Groves, TX

On Mon, 8 Apr 1996, Diane Durbin wrote:

 I see several people have asked about creative or successful ways to
teach the system. In my experience there is no transfer of knowledge
from this kind of exercise to *real* use of the system.
 Does anybody think it might be better to forget making kids learn the
Dewey system ... If we were teaching location skills in the context of a
real classroom unit, the kids would remember where to look a lot faster.