Hi, Kathleen,
I see our 5th graders weekly, and most of my projects are integrated with
the 5th grade Humanities curriculum, but a fun project outside of that has
been teaching the Dewey. We start by talking about what information is, and
how it was organized thousands of years ago:
*Beginnings of libraries*
- Closed stacks. Only trained personnel were allowed to go into the
stacks to search for books. (Control of information vs. 21st century
concept that information should be free and available to all)
- Varying systems. Usually organized to each
librarian's
specifics and interests, though generally done by subject. Use
illustrations from *The Librarian Who Measured the Earth*
(Lasky)
t
o show scrolls in Library of Alexandria, and book on Monticello
(Jefferson's library and system of organization)
.
Read aloud if time permits.
- Inefficient. What if librarian wasn't available
?
Describe origin of term "call number:
"
(
people had to request books because they weren't allowed to browse the
stacks, and the librarian would "call" back to his/her assistants to bring
the books up from the stacks.
)
Share bio info on Melville Dewey, who
said, "That's ridiculous. People who come here can read and they know what
they want."
And
devised the DD
C
using all the subject areas he could think of.
)
Play Dewey Rap.
http://www.teachertube.com/video/the-dewey-decimal-rap-215252
*Dewey Exploration*
1. Divide students into groups of 3-4. Assign each group a Dewey division,
e.g., "100," "200," etc. Have each group go to his/her division
in the stacks
and write down 8-10 subjects found on the shelves within that area. Save
the lists for the poster project (below).
2. Students select a book that interests them from their section
, then shares what topic it covers with class at next meeting.
*Dewey Posters*
Individual groups use their lists to collect images--from magazines,
online, photocopies from books, or personal drawings/writings/poems-- that
represent the topics in their division, and make a collage. These posters
are then displayed in the Information area of library for the rest of the
year.
It takes several weeks, is differentiated, gets them very familiar with the
Dewey system, and is fun and creative. They often go around singing the
DD rap for weeks afterwards!
Let me know if you have any questions.
Laurie
On Thu, Aug 31, 2017 at 9:11 AM, Kathleen Esling <
kathleen.esling@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Good morning,
I hope that everyone's school year is off to a good start!
I am emailing because this year I have a new opportunity with my fifth
graders; they now have a once-a-week Library Skills class. I am looking
forward to having so much time with them, and I was wondering if anyone
could recommend a fun long-term project? I would love to be able to spend
this time helping the students learn and develop their information literacy
skills outside of their core classes (and I hope that they will have fun,
too!).
Any advice would be greatly appreciated. :)
Thank you, and I hope that you have a great rest of your Thursday.
Sincerely,
Kathleen Esling
--
[image: Convent & Stuart Hall] <http://www.sacredsf.org/>
Kathleen Esling
*Convent & Stuart Hall Associate Librarian*
Convent & Stuart Hall
Schools of the Sacred Heart - *San Francisco*
2222 Broadway | San Francisco, CA 94115
Website <http://www.sacredsf.org/> | Email <kathleen.esling@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
[image: Facebook] <https://www.facebook.com/sacredheartsf>[image: Twitter]
<https://twitter.com/sacredheartsf>[image: YouTube]
<https://www.youtube.com/user/SacredHeartSchoolsSF>
Currently reading: *The Girl Who Drank the Moon* by Kelly Barnhill, read
by Christina Moore
