Assign That Category - Grade 4 Dewey Continued

In our previous class, the students figured out the following Dewey categories by examining the books that lived in each section:

500s = science
700s = entertainment/hobbies (arts & recreation)
900s = history & geography

This time, their assignment was in reverse: figure out where certain topics would live. The following were the trickiest, since all of our brains don't work the same way as Melvil Dewey's. Where would YOU go to find the following?

1. You have to find out when dinosaurs lived. 
2. You are planning a trip to Hawaii. 
3. You need to identify a rock you found on vacation. 
4. You are doing a project about 16th century explorers.
5. You want to find information on some famous paintings. 

 Scroll down for answers.

 

Answers

1.  Dinosaurs = 500s (even though they lived a loooooooooong time ago ... the 900s are only about HUMAN history)
2. Vacation destinations = geography, or 900s (even though going on vacation is a recreational activity)
3. Rocks = 500s (even if you found one on vacation)
4. Explorers = 900s (even if you're doing a project for fun about them)
5. Paintings = 700s (even if they are old and the artists lived a long time ago)

Credit for lesson idea: Anne Oelke via LMNet

Book, Book, Book and Other Animal Sounds

The library often sounds a little like a zoo, but this past month, it also sounded like a farm! I read a selection of animal sounds books to the kindergarten classes:

scholastic.com

arthuralevinebooks.com

harpercollins.com

Students got a huge kick out of the story of Bark, George (thank you to fellow librarian Suzanne Jordan, who recommended it!).

To support their retelling skills, students colored and cut out the characters so they could bring them home and share story to their families. (You can click on the link to access and download more copies.)

Then we watched this puppet-show version of the story:

Because students' animal sounds sometimes got a little ... enthusiastic ... I taught them the conductor's cut-off signal. Which reminded me of The Sesame Street All-Animal Orchestra, conducted by Seiji Ozawa:

Second Grade Judges - Round 1

I've been monitoring Caldecott short lists and have selected a bunch of potential nominees to read to the second grade. Maybe between now and January 25th, we'll be able to pick the winner! Here are the ones that both classes at Stadium have voted to keep so far:  

Extra Yarn 
Author: Mac Barnett
Illustrator: Jon Klassen

"You can't knit a sweater for a tree!"
"Actually, you can ... "

See examples of Yarn Bombing ... There's even a Tumblr!

This is Not My Hat
Author/Illustrator: Jon Klassen

Z is for Moose
Author: Kelly Bingham
Illustrator: Paul O. Zelinsky

Make sure you watch the credits! Guess who voices Glove????

Grade 1 BUG research

As you may already have heard, the new Common Core standards emphasize informational text. It's never too early to start getting used to reading nonfiction books. In fact, several first graders at Garden City asked me earlier in the year to get more nonfiction for their section, because they prefer facts to stories. I've been working on it and welcome any donations!

In class recently, first grade students reviewed how to use a table of contents. They all received a book about bugs and then found the chapter that described how their bugs look. They drew a picture of their bug and wrote down at least one fact. Here is some of their work:

D. quite enjoyed sharing some "interesting" beetle facts with the rest of us!

Name that Category - Grade 4 Dewey

I don't expect my students to memorize any Dewey Decimal numbers - that's what the online catalog is for! I do, however, want them to get practice with categorization and classification - skills that are needed in the workplace. For example, in my prior life as a "mutual fund operations communications analyst," I developed filing systems and web site architectures. Being able to see how pieces fit together is important.

Grade 4 students worked together to examine the most popular Dewey categories: 500s, 700s, and 900s. They pulled books from each section, wrote down the topics, and then tried to figure out how the topics went together. Can you tell what the 500s are about??