I have just finished two library lessons on the Dewey Decimal system which =
were pretty darn successful, if I do say so myself :) Also, they were the =
best way that I could think of to have the kids discover things for themsel=
ves, rather than just having me tell them the answers (which fits this thre=
ad... which is why I'm posting this at all!)
So... I just thought I would share. I did these activities with grades 6-1=
2, and greatly modified/simplified versions with my two younger students (o=
ne in grade 2, the other in grade 4). None of the students had ever heard =
of, much less worked with, the Dewey Decimal system before, so the first ac=
tivity was mostly an intro. to the idea of the DDC system.
The first week, I gave small groups a stack of 25-30 nonfiction books to so=
rt by subject. Once they were finished, they had to find another group tha=
t was done and try to meld their subject piles together. This continued un=
til the entire class had joined their piles together... there were some hea=
ted arguments within groups and between groups, especially with the Jr. Hig=
h kids. When they thought they were finished, I pointed out that there are=
10 sections in Dewey, and then challenged them to make only 10 subject gro=
upings out of their many piles (some classes had as many as 20). After thi=
s, I compared what they had done with the Dewey system, emphasizing that th=
ere were no right answers, but commenting on the similarities and differenc=
es of their "system" and the DD system. The things they discovered on thei=
r own were that there are books which seem to defy classification, subjects=
which don't deserve their own category but don't really blend intuitively =
with anything else, and there are a lot of different ways to sort books by =
subject.
The second week, we did the activity which I was more unsure about than I h=
ave been all quarter... and the one that was the most successful!! I gave =
each small group (4-5 students) a stack of 10 cards with the main DDC headi=
ngs on them (000 Generalities, etc.) and a stack of 54 cards with just a ti=
tle and author on them. Their first task was to sort these "books" by subj=
ect--just like we had done the previous week, but this time using Dewey. (=
I didn't correct them if books were mis-placed, so that they could figure i=
t out themselves with the next part of the activity.) Once they were finis=
hed, I gave them copies of "The Thousand Sections" from my DDC book, and a =
sheet of stickers with Dewey numbers on them (I only used whole numbers), a=
nd another sheet with 3-letter stickers (for author last names). As a grou=
p, they had to assign the Dewey numbers to the correct books, and (if there=
was time) finish off the call numbers with the 3-letter stickers. Finally=
, they had to put the "books" in shelf order, with their headings cards in =
the appropriate places.
This activity brought so much self-learned understanding to so many student=
s, I don't even know how to begin to describe it. They went from being daz=
ed and confused at the beginning of the period, to efficient and understand=
ing (or beginning to understand, at least) by the end. One thing that real=
ly stands out is that, by having them assign Dewey numbers themselves (whic=
h required them to look throught the DDC schedules), they got a good idea o=
f which books go together, and therefore, what sorts of books they can expe=
ct to find in each section... especially in the 300s, 600s, and 700s, where=
there was the most initial confusion.
Hopefully I've explained this clearly enough... !
Anyhoo, just thought I'd share :)
Karisa
******************************************************
Karisa Hayward, Librarian
EskDale High School
EskDale, Utah
Daisy@goducks.com
What if the Hokey Pokey IS what it's all about?
--- Johanna Halbeisen <johanna.newsong@RCN.COM> wrote:
>I have the above sentence on the dashboard of my car and have been
>looking at it and thinking about it all summer. It was inspired by a
>post last spring and by the idea of how to allow kids to find out
>about what's on a spine label. Someone had suggested having the kids
>look at the cover and the author and then look at the spine label. I
>did that and it was great...they got all excited seeing the
>connection. (There was a little more to it than that, I'll give
>details if anyone wants.)
>
>So my question for all of you is, what are the times (and ways) you
>have found ways to allow kids to find out something rather than
>telling them?
>
>I think this is thread material as opposed to a hit, so post to the
>list and let's all see what comes.
>
>Johanna
>--
>Johanna Halbeisen, Library Media Teacher
>Woodland Elementary School (preK-4)
>80 Powder Mill Rd, Southwick, MA 01077
>johanna.newsong@rcn.com
>
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