Wick & Wong
Wick & Wong
Professor Blessing
LSC 5521
April 10, 2012
Mod 10.2 Library Lessons
Begin by showing a slide show on what Dewey Decimal is:
http://prezi.com/hnu33won1qhq/edit/#0_242409
Grade: 4th – 6th
Objective: Student will be able to identify Dewey Decimal numbers and determine what class in
the First Summary a book belongs in.
Connection: Yesterday you learned about the parts of a book. You learned that all books have
a spine that contains a lot of important and helpful information. You saw that the spine has the
title of the book, the author's name and a call or Dewey Decimal classification number.
Today you are going to learn how to find the Dewey Decimal number. Look at the stacks of
books in front of you. How do you know how to find the book you are looking for?
What happens if you have a lot of books? How would you organize them? How can you find
what you're looking for in a big pile? (Show students a big mound of books in disarray on a
table and hit your head with your hand. Express dismay and confusion!)
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Explicit/Direct Instruction: Libraries have many, many books. Librarians need a way to keep
track of which books are in the library. A list of books in the library is called a “catalog.” Today,
libraries keep this catalog on computers. Librarians group nonfiction books by what they
are about – the subject matter. This is how they are organized on the shelves. This is called
“classification.”
The Dewey Decimal Classification system was invented by a man called Melvil Dewey, who
was born in 1851. He invented a standard way to classify books that is the same in all libraries.
All nonfiction and some fiction, like poetry and graphic novels are organized by call or Dewey
Decimal number. So if you understand the Dewey system, you can go into any library and find
any book that you are looking for.
Before using this system libraries didn’t have the same way of organizing books. If one user
understood one system and then went into another library, that library's system could be much
different. Dewey helped establish a standard of categories and numbers, so all libraries operated
and classified shelved nonfiction and some fiction (poetry and graphic novels) books the same
way.
Model: We use number codes to organize books. What Melvil Dewey did was think about what
each book was about. He knew that when we look for books in the library, we are interested in
books by topic or subject. Instead of organizing books based on the cost of the book, he
organized books based on what each book was about. Books on the same subject or
topic should be placed together. This lets us easily find books on the things we need or like to
read about. In order to do this and allow us to quickly and easily find books, Dewey created a
number code for each topic. The numbers use decimals – the numbers have “dots” and then more
numbers.
Think of all the different things we could write or read about. We would need a lot of numbers.
Dewey created a set of 10 general subject areas – things that books might be about. These
general numbers are in groups of 100. The decimals in the Dewey Decimal System let us give
each topic a special number or code.
General Dewey Numbers (by 100's)
To keep things simple, Dewey thought about what people are interested in and how we share
information. He created a system of 10 main classes with 100 divisions and 1000 sections. This
means there THOUSANDS AND THOUSANDS of Dewey numbers. Every topic you can
imagine has its own number! No one wants to memorize them all. You don’t have to. To make
things easier, we can look at Dewey Numbers. We will just look at the main classes or groups he
created. That will help you know what shelves to look at when you want a nonfiction book. (As
you list each class, hold up a book, read the title and the call number. Also have a large chart of
the ten classes that comprise the 1st summary posted and reference it as you speak.)
100s – Who Am I? Books About Us. The first section in Dewey is books that are numbered
from 100-199. The most important thing most people are interested in is themselves. Some call
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this taking care of #1. Dewey started by creating a group for books that are about who we are.
This means how we think and act. These are the things that make us human.
200s – Who Made Me? After we think about ourselves, many want to think about how we got
here. The next group that Dewey created is about religion and myths. These books try to
explain how people got on earth and why we are here.
300s – Who Is My Neighbor? The next thing that interests people are the others around us.
Dewey knew there would need to be groups of people to share information with. These are books
about how people live, the things we do, and folklore.
400s – How Do I Communicate With My Neighbors? If we have things to share with our
neighbors, we need to be able to talk to them. This group of Dewey numbers is about languages,
how we write, and grammar.
500s – What Will I Talk About? Natural Sciences. Now that we know our neighbor and how
to communicate, we need things to talk about. Dewey made this group for books about math and
science.
600s – What Will I Do With Science? Applied Sciences. After we learn about numbers and
science, we need to find ways to use it. The next Dewey grouping is about APPLIED SCIENCE.
It is about how we use science in medicine and technology.
700s – Time For a Break! What Will I Do For FUN? We have covered a lot of ground –
almost everything we need to understand ourselves, share with our neighbors, and use science.
Dewey knew that we would also want to relax and have fun. This group is about arts and
recreation.
800s – Time to Get Serious Again: Authors and Books That Make Me Who I Am. After a
fun break, we look at the important books we read, which we call literature. Famous authors and
famous books are important. They are so important that Dewey gave them a special section in
the Dewey Decimal System.
900’s – Who, What, Where, When, Why? How Did Everything Happen? In order to
understand everything else, we need to answer these questions. Dewey created a special section
for geography and history
000-099s. Everything Else - Room to Grow! Remember, Dewey lived a long time ago. He
could never have imagined many of the things we talk and read about today. He knew this, so he
created a special grouping for everything else that would come along. This includes topics such
as aliens and software.
First Summary
The Ten Main Classes
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000
Computers, information, & general reference
100
Philosophy & psychology
200 Religion
300
Social sciences
400
Language
500
Science
600
Technology
700
Arts & recreation
800
Literature
900
History & geography
(Pick up some books from the desk and indicate call numbers. Read the title and hold against the
hand outs so children see the correlation.)
Guided Practice: Today you're going to get a chance to see for yourself how the Dewey
Decimal system works. You and a partner are going on a scavenger hunt. As a pair, determine
where you can find a book in each category on the sheet, locate them and list where they go. Use
the hand out to figure out what category they go into. Read the titles to better understand as you
decide which class to put each book in. Talk with your partners and see if you both agree. Write
the correct call number down in the spot indicated. Remember all the categories or
classifications are posted here on the chart as well if you want to use that to help you. (Refer
to 100 - 900 listed above. That will be charted big for use for the students. Students will be using
the NYC Dewey Decimal System sheet below. )
Independent Practice: Find a book to check out from one of the Dewey categories using the
icon coded hand out.
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Use this Dewey Decimal key to help you to find what you are looking for. The
matching images on the shelves will help to locate your item. All of these images
are from the online catalog that you use to search for materials in our library!
Stories
Fairy and Folk Tales
Holidays
FIC followed by the first three
letters of the author’s last name
Folklore 398
Customs 394
Science
Nature
Health
507
Plants 581
Animals 590
Human Body 612
Germs 616
Machines
Arts
Sports
621
Drawing 743
Music 780
Athletic & Outdoor
Sports and Games
796
History
Countries
Famous People
Dictionaries & Encyclopedias 903
United States 973
912
Biographies 920
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Indirect Instruction
Dewey Class
Main Subjects Interesting Title and Dewey Number
000's General Work
100's Philosophy and Psychology
200's Religion
300's Social Science
400's Language
500's Pure Science
600's Applied Science
700's The Arts
800's Literature
900's History and Geography
(NYC Information Skills Benchmarks)
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Works Cited
Breitsprecher, William. “Dewey Decimal for Kids.”Breitlinks.N.p., 6 Oct. 2008. Web. 3 Apr.
2012. <http://www.breitlinks.com/dewey_for_kids.htm>. This website provides a wealth
of information on teaching the Dewey Decimal system, as well as other information
literacy lessons. Mr. Breitsprecher is a school library media specialist in Wisconsin.
There are slideshows, activities and lessons that the author provides for direct use or
adaptations. The author states that multimedia is very important and extremely effective
to teach to today’s generations of students.
NYC Office of Library Services.NYC Information Skills Benchmarks Book. This PDF file
is a work created by the NYC Office of Library Services for the NYC Public
Schools. It has worksheets, guided and independent, geared towards meeting
information literacy benchmarks.
Wentworth, Sarah. “Dewey Decimal Map.” 2011. Microsoft Word file. Sarah Wentworth is a
student in the Mansfield program. She shared a map that she created during a
discussion for one of our other courses. The map that Sarah created would be used to
assist students in the library to find resources by using the Dewey Decimal
Classification System.
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