Thanks for all your responses! I guess I should have included in my original post
that I understand why poetry is where it is, I just could not figure out a way to
explain it to 5 year olds. I've decided to tell them that poetry (and fairytales,
if they ask) are special books that are different from our picture books and
chapter books. That's why we break the rules and let them be on the non-fiction
side of the library. Thank you for all your advice, here are the answers I
received.
My original post: I just started introducing fiction and non-fiction to my
Kindergarten students. Today they were only allowed to checkout non-fiction books.
A few of the students picked poetry books and wanted to know why they were
non-fiction. I wasn't sure what to tell them. Any ideas for a simple way of
explaining poetry being non-fiction to younger students?
Jessica Walsh
Library Media Specialist
POB Kindergarten Center
Plainview-Old Bethpage, NY
jwalsh@pob.k12.ny.us
All books, according to the Dewey Decimal System, have numbers (ergo, making them
all seem NF); however, the 800's, which include literature from around the world
(including America), is generally seen as too large a collection to keep in the
800's. Therefore, it is pulled and shelved separately as "fiction."
As to explaining this to K's, I would say that poetry is part of the numbered or NF
section because it's a "special" format/form of writing. Not a lie, but not too
much to handle, I hope.
I hope this helps,
------
It is a way to keep the genre together. If they were shelved by title or author,
they would be scattered throughout the fiction section.
When you look at Dewey, the fiction call numbers are also in the 800s. As are any
of the literary forms.
My thinking, if you want to pull them to make a poetry corner, go for it! Maybe
that will help your students. It would be pretty cool. Maybe you could even have a
writer's desk, or those magnetic poetry tags for aspiring poets. Or, how about a
Poetry Slam??? If you decide to change the call numbers, just remember, jobbers put
them in 811, 821, etc.
-----
What great questions from kindergartners! None of my students have asked
this question so far, but here's the answer I have ready for them. My
answer assumes some knowledge of the Dewey system, so adjust as needed.
Mr. Dewey's Decimal system says that all "Literature" books go in the
800s. Literature means things people read for fun, like poetry, plays,
and fiction stories. Not too many people know that there is a Dewey
number for American fiction: 813. But most libraries have SO many
fiction stories that they would take up a lot of room in the 800s
section. There would be dozens and dozens of shelves full of books with
the Dewey number 813. For that reason, most libraries take all those
books out of the Dewey section, and make a new "fiction" section. So
the answer is, ALL books in the library really belong in the numbers
section if you ask Mr. Dewey!
-----
I had the same question. Someone on this list explained to me that non-fiction is a
misnomer and that we ought to call that section the "classified" section instead.
Other than that, poetry isn't really non-fiction - it's just classified with the
non-fiction.
-----
I guess I would have to answer your question with this response: poetry is not
non-fiction. It is located in the Dewey section of the library which includes
non-fiction and other genres. I think we as librarians have used the incorrect
terminology for years - calling the Dewey section of our libraries "non-fiction"
when in reality it is a section of a variety of genres, organized by subjects,
rather than alphabetical by author.
-----
Tell them that Dewey set aside all the 800s for stories(literature) but that the
books marked fiction take up so much room it's easier to have a separate section
for them.
-----
I would say Jessica that Poetry is non-fiction and Literature has a number in the
non-fiction 800's. Yes it is made up. Sort of like folktales and fairytales.
-----
It really isn't non-fiction. If you think about the Dewey Decimal System, fiction
books should really be classified in the 800's, but we usually pull them out for
ease of circulation. Poetry books are also 800's and are Literature. I'm not sure
how you explain this to Kinder kids.
-----
As you know, to say that books with Dewey numbers are non-fiction books is
erroneous. Even fiction books have a Dewey number of 813. Folk tales and myths are
not non-fiction either but, they're still in the Dewey section. Just tell your
students that all books have Dewey numbers and most are non-fiction but a long time
ago librarians decided to take all of the fiction books out of the Dewey section
and put them by themselves because there are so many of them that they would take
up too much room. All the rest of the books were left in the non-fiction section.
That's what I tell my middle school students.
-----
I tell mine that nothing that is not a story (with a beginning, middle and an end)
is nonfiction.
-----
Every book on the has a Dewey number. That doesn't mean it's non-fiction. You
have to define Non-fiction and Fiction, first. Then explain that having a Dewey
number isn't the definition of a non-fiction book. Even Nicholas Sparks has a
Dewey number, we just choose to put him where he's easier to find. HTH!
-----
Poetry is not non-fiction in most cases. Dewey actually has numbers for all books
and if I recall correctly, the entire fiction collections belongs in the 800s. We
separate it to make it easier for us. Bios are the same. They are in the 900s,
but many of us separate them to make them more accessible. Fairy tales and Folk
tales are fiction as well, but they are in the 300s.
-----
To tell the truth, the Dewey 800s are a mess. In reality they classify fiction in
the 800, hardly anyone does this. I always told students that poetry is a literary
form, so are plays and essays and fiction. Just tell then that it is literature.
-----
I think many of us struggle with this. The same problem arises when it comes to
folk tales and fairy tales, too--those aren't "true" or "real"--and also for
graphic novels, if you shelve them in the 700's. To tell the truth, I have
basically avoided this question with the youngest students (how, I don't know).
With older students, I explain that the Dewey Decimal System was designed to
accommodate ALL books. Even fiction books should/could technically have a Dewey
number in the 800's (literature); it's just that there are so many, we usually pull
those out to be a separate group.
-----
I have ran it the same thing with my younger kids and I just tell them that there
are some books that break the rules. I also tell them poetry is a something
special, that is isn't written like a story or like fiction books. The kids will
point out that you can't read it like the chapter books or picture books either.
Poetry has its own special way of being read.
-----
I tell my students that books with Dewey decimal numbers are "classified" not
non-fiction. All books could be classified by Dewey numbers with fiction in the
800's. When our students are assigned non-fiction I remind them that that does not
include all classified books. Those 398.2's just won't qualify.
-----
Here's what I tell my students: Mr. Dewey created a section for all kinds of
literature -- the 800s. There's a place for poetry, for play, for jokes, and even
for fiction. (After all, we could include all of our fiction collection here in
Dewey -- we just choose to pull it out as a separate section since we have so many
fiction books.)
-----
All books, including fiction, have a call number (fiction is 8*3: the * depends on
the language); there is a tradition in public and school libraries of removing
fiction from the sequence and calling it F or FIC; biographies suffer a similar
fate. It simplifies in some ways, and leads to confusion in other ways.
-----
Really I think that the Dewey Decimal system covers everything. It's not
only nonfiction--the entire 800's section is literature. It's just that we
tend to move all of the novels that would be listed under the American
literature and English literature dewey numbers mainly on their own and
alphabetically. You may want to say that novels are in the fiction section
but there is stuff that is "made up or created" in other sections of the
Dewey system such as folklore, poetry, and drama.
-----
Dewey created his numerical system to cover all books including fiction. Fiction
titles were originally in the 800s just like poetry and short stories are now
(unless you have a SC shelf). You could explain that all books originally had Dewey
numbers but we had so many wonderful stories by great authors that librarians
decided to give those stories a place of their own... I'm sure you can spin it in a
nice way for your kids. HTH
-----
They are a type of literature - which is why they have an 800 number.
Giving them a number insures that they are together on the shelf so a person
looking for poetry will see ALL the poetry books in the library - just like
seeing all the fiction books that an author has written.
-----
All books belong in the Dewey system, but someone a long time ago pulled
out the fiction books and decided it would be easier to classify them
and arrange them by author instead of what each book is about. So really
all books are non-fiction, but we don't classify them that way.
-----
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