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"DEWEY" KNOW HOW TO FIND INFORMATION
Finding Nonfiction Resources in a Traditional Library Format

Introduction | Background Knowledge | Activities | Extensions | Standards

Introduction

Since the first library in the 7th century BCE, books and resources have been organized in various ways. In this early library, the items were organized by subject matter. As libraries evolved, so did the organizational structures. Libraries’ resources have been organized by the date the item was added to the catalog or by the size of the book or material. Modern home libraries are often organized by color. While these organizational systems may seem easier or look better on the shelves, they make finding information quickly much more difficult.

Traditional libraries have a solution to this challenge. Most school libraries use the Dewey Decimal System to categorize and organize nonfiction materials, which allows users to search the catalog and use a logical series of numbers to find what they are looking for. Students need to know how to find nonfiction resources on the shelves before being asked to do research.

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Background Knowledge

Melvil Dewey created what would become known as the Dewey Decimal Classification in 1873 and published it in 1885-the same year that he founded the American Library Association. The system is centered around 10 major classes of information - each identified by the first digit of a three-digit number. Those categories are then divided into more specific subjects, determined by the second digit of the three-digit number. As the number becomes more specific, the information becomes more exact. For example, a book in the 500s will be about Science. A book in the 590s will be about animals. A book in the 599s will be about mammals. To narrow it down further, a book with the call number 599.8 will be about non-human primates. The system is specific, and the books can be categorized by long call numbers. Once categorized, the books are shelved numerically, in decimal order.

Start with Literature

• Do You Know Dewey? by Brian P. Cleary (ISBN 9780761366768) Written in rhyme, this book makes the Dewey Decimal System accessible to students by helping them understand the categories through their experiences.
• The Great Dewey Hunt by Toni Buzzeo (ISBN 9781602130296) Toni Buzzeo has written another excellent Mrs. Skorpuski book! In this installment, Mrs. Skorpuski invites the fourth-grade students to explore the Dewey Decimal System and create a scavenger hunt for the second grade.

Videos

• The Dewey Decimal Classification System (TeachersFirst review) - This video is an excellent introduction to the Dewey Decimal System. It breaks down the categories into easy terms using football, which is a subject that appeals to many students.
• The Dewey Decimal Rap (TeachersFirst review) - Check out this fun way to view the Dewey Decimal System. This video presents the information in a light-hearted rap.
• Bob the Alien (TeachersFirst review) - CCapstone, a book publisher, created this video about the Dewey Decimal system that helps Bob the Alien find a book about spiders.

Other Online Resources for Background Information

• A Short Story About Dewey (TeachersFirst review) This is an engaging look at the Dewey Decimal System. Dewey is said to have invented the classification system by imagining himself as a caveman. This cute depiction invites students to imagine themselves as cavemen and opens the door for excellent conversation! This is a free download from the site Slideshare.
• Library Skills Free Powerpoints for Kids and Teachers (TeachersFirst review) - This website links to many online games to learn more about the Dewey Decimal system and play games to practice using it.

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Activities

The Great Dewey Hunt

• After you read The Great Dewey Hunt by Toni Buzzeo, you can stage your own Great Dewey Hunt! This activity can be done in one class session with one grade level or span multiple days, including numerous grade levels. Students become Dewey experts and can have the opportunity to become teachers and share their knowledge with other students. Toni Buzzeo created and shared a complete lesson plan for this activity, which you can find HERE.

Scavenger Hunt

• A scavenger hunt is a great way to keep kids engaged when the topic is not exciting enough. It can be high-tech or low-tech.! Students follow clues to locate books on the shelves.

Non-Technology Approach
• Easter Egg Hunt - Recycle old Easter eggs and hide them throughout your space! Students search the room for eggs, each containing a clue. They then use the catalog or their knowledge of the shelves to find the books.
• Team Scavenger Hunt - Each team starts with a clue. The clue will lead them to a book on the shelf. This book will have a new clue. Students will work together to find the next clue and locate the book on the shelf. You can color code the clues so that all the teams do​​ not have to try to find the exact book simultaneously.
Technology Approach

• Create a Goose Chase (TeachersFirst review). Students can complete a GooseChase or create their own! Use this Goose Chase template to create a digital scavenger hunt for your school library.

Online Games

• Quizizz (TeachersFirst review) is an excellent platform for testing your students’ knowledge of the Dewey Decimal System. It offers several premade quizzes/games related to the Dewey Decimal System, lessons, and video activities. You can edit the available activities to fit your needs or use the tools available in Quizizz to create flashcards, quizzes, and activities using your documents or AI.

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Extensions

Once students understand how the Dewey Decimal System works and how to use it to find resources, they can extend their thinking!

1. Word Clouds
   • Provide groups of students with a sample of books from one of the 10 major classifications of the Dewey Decimal System. Ask them to look at and through the books to see if they can determine keywords that could describe this particular category. They put their ideas together in a word cloud. (More information about this activity can be found at Making Dewey Fun! A Roundup of Ideas, Games, and Activities - (TeachersFirst Review) . Create shareable products using WordItOut (TeachersFirst review) Word Cloud Generator (TeachersFirst review), or WordClouds (TeachersFirst review)
2. Posters
   • Students can create posters or infographics to decorate the library or classroom, depicting each of the ten major categories of the Dewey Decimal System. They can do this with posterboards and art supplies or with technology tools such as Google Slides (TeachersFirst review), Microsoft PowerPoint (TeachersFirst review), or BigHugeLabs (TeachersFirst review).
   • Extend learning by focusing on one or two categories for posters monthly. Include links to book reviews created by students and have students ask staff members to share reading suggestions for each category to include on each poster.
3. Expand on the Caveman idea in A Short Story about Dewey. What questions would you ask? How would you identify information? Come up with your system to classify knowledge.
   • Students can develop their classification system to piggyback off of the Slideshare linked above. They can imagine themselves as aliens visiting Earth for the first time and trying to understand what they see and learn. They can also stay with the caveman theme and consider ways to reclassify information. (For example, why are domesticated animals in the 600s instead of the 500s like other animals?) Students can create slides as noted in the previous activity or try something new, like a digital story project using Canva (TeachersFirst review) or Sway (TeachersFirst review) to share their new classification systems.
   • Consider additional multimedia options for students to share their new classification systems:
     • Have students make short animated videos using Animate from Audio (TeachersFirst review) for each of the Dewey Decimal classifications. Download each video to your device, then upload the videos to YouTube to create a Dewey Decimal playlist created by your class.
     • Create a digital book with Book Creator (TeachersFirst review) about the real Dewey Decimal system or the classification system your students create. As students read books from the different categories, ask them to add a written or video review in the appropriate section of your book.
     • Have students use Adobe Express' Free Comic Strip Maker (TeachersFirst review) to create a comic adventure about the cavemen as they classify information.
     • Use Humy (TeachersFirst review) to create a chatbot for students to “discuss” the Dewey Decimal System with Melvil Dewey. Adjust the settings to meet your teaching objectives.

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Correlation to Standards

• AASL National School Library Standards
  • Inquire Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners. 2. Demonstrating interest in other perspectives during learning activities. 3. Reflecting on their own place within the global learning community.
  • Inquire Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners engage with new knowledge by following a process that includes: 3. Generating products that illustrate learning.
  • Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understanding. 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group. 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
  • Inquire Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners display curiosity and initiative by: 1. Formulating questions about a personal interest or a curricular topic. 2. Recalling prior and background knowledge as context for new meaning.
  • Inquire Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners adapt, communicate, and exchange learning products with others in a cycle that includes: 1. Interacting with content presented by others. 2. Providing constructive feedback. 3. Acting on feedback to improve. 4. Sharing products with an authentic audience.
  • Curate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners act on an information need by: 1. Determining the need to gather information. 2. Identifying possible sources of information. 3. Making critical choices about information sources to use.
  • Include Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners adjust their awareness of the global learning community by: 1. Interacting with learners who reflect a range of perspectives.
  • Include Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners exhibit empathy with and tolerance for diverse ideas by: 1. Engaging in informed conversation and active debate. 2. Contributing to discussions in which multiple viewpoints on a topic are expressed.
  • Include Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners demonstrate empathy and equity in knowledge building within the global learning community by: 1. Seeking interactions with a range of learners.
  • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners identify collaborative opportunities by: 1. Demonstrating their desire to broaden and deepen understandings. 2. Developing new understandings through engagement in a learning group. 3. Deciding to solve problems informed by group interaction.
  • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners participate in personal, social, and intellectual networks by: 1. Using a variety of communication tools and resources. 2. Establishing connections with other learners to build on their own prior knowledge and create new knowledge.
  • Collaborate Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners actively participate with others in learning situations by: 2. Recognizing learning as a social responsibility.
  • Explore Shared Foundation, Think Domain - Learners develop and satisfy personal curiosity by: 1. Reading widely and deeply in multiple formats and writing and creating for a variety of purposes.
  • Explore Shared Foundation, Create Domain - Learners construct new knowledge by: 1. Problem solving through cycles of design, implementation, and reflection.
  • Explore Shared Foundation, Share Domain - Learners engage with the learning community by: 3. Collaboratively identifying innovative solutions to a challenge or problem.
  • Explore Shared Foundation, Grow Domain - Learners develop through experience and reflection by: 1. Iteratively responding to challenges. 2. Recognizing capabilities and skills that can be developed, improved, and expanded. 3. Open-mindedly accepting feedback for positive and constructive growth.
• ISTE Standards for Students
  • Empowered Learner - 1.1.b. Students build networks and customize their learning environments in ways that support the learning process.
  • Empowered Learner - 1.1.c. Students use technology to seek feedback that informs and improves their practice and to demonstrate their learning in a variety of ways.
  • Knowledge Constructor - 1.3.a. Students plan and employ effective research strategies to locate information and other resources for their intellectual or create pursuits.
  • Knowledge Constructor - 1.3.d - Students build knowledge by actively exploring real-world issues and problems, developing ideas and theories, and pursuing answers and solutions.
  • Innovative Designer - 1.4.d - Students exhibit a tolerance for ambiguity, perseverance, and the capacity to work with open-ended problems.
  • Creative Communicator - 1.6.d. Students publish or present content that customizes the message and medium for their intended audience.
  • Global Collaborator - 1.7.c - Students contribute constructively to project teams, assuming various roles and responsibilities to work effectively toward a common goal.

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