Dinosaurs To Directions To Dewey Decimal - Author: Pat Miller - Grade Level: 2 - Throughout the NYS Standards students are expected to gather and use information and complete projects. This introductory experience will give them some of the tools they need to do this more efficiently.

DESCRIPTION OF LEARNING EXPERIENCE

Title of Learning Experience: Dinosaurs to Directions to Dewey Decimal

Author: Pat Miller, NYS School for the Deaf, Rome, NY

LEARNING CONTEXT

2nd Grade class in library time

This learning experience was designed for a self-contained ungraded special education class of deaf students, some with additional disabilities. The class was of mixed ages working on more on a variety of grade levels in each subject area. In a regular school setting, the learning experience seems most appropriate for second grade classes. However it work that can be revisited throughout the years using different topics (therefore different Dewey Decimal classifications) and by placing the emphasis on different portions of the work the students do.

Prior Knowledge:

numbers usually represent true books
locate books on shelf with assistance

Declarative Knowledge:

Procedural Knowledge:

numbers represent subjects
numbers help locate books
specific classes 500, 600, 700
subclasses further refine classification

locate subjects on shelf without assistance
follow written directions
ask relevant , focused questions regarding directions when they don’t understand
identify the correct class for teacher selected books from the 500’s, 600’s, 700’s
use Microsoft Word to create a tables, including clip art
transfer knowledge to another setting (eg. public library)
simple subject searching on a PAC (computerized Public Access Catalog used to look up books in a library)

Throughout the NYS Standards students are expected to gather and use information and complete projects. This introductory experience will give them some of the tools they need to do this more efficiently. The table below refers to some of the standards and performance indicators targeted by this Learning Experience. A full set of the NYS Learning Standards is available at http://www.nysed.gov/rscs/stds/contents.html.

FRAMEWORK	STANDARDS (label and key ideas)	PERFORMANCE INDICATOR
English Language	Language for information and understanding Students will listen, speak, read, and write for information and understanding. As listeners and readers, students will collect data, facts, and ideas; discover relationships, concepts, and generalizations; and use knowledge generated from oral, written and electronically produced texts. As speakers and writers, they will use oral and written language that follow the accepted conventions of the English language to acquire, interpret, apply, and transmit information	gather and interpret information from children’s reference books, magazines, textbooks, electronic bulleting boards, audio and media presentations, oral interviews, and from such forms as charts, graphs, maps, and diagrams
Math, Science and Technology	Information Systems (Students will access, generate, process and transfer information using appropriate technologies) Information technology is used to retrieve, process, and communicate information and as a tool to enhance learning	use a variety of equipment software packages to enter, process, display and communicate information in different forms using text , tables, pictures and sound
Career development and occupational studies	Universal Foundation Skill (Students will demonstrate mastery of the foundation skills and competencies essential for success in the workplace) Basic skills include the ability to read, write, listen and speak as well as perform arithmetical and mathematical functions	listen to and read the ideas to others and express themselves both orally and in writing; they use basic mathematical concepts and computations to solve problems
Career Development and Occupational Studies	Universal Foundation Skill (Students will demonstrate mastery of the foundation skills and competencies essential for success in the workplace) Personal qualities generally include competence in self-management and the ability to plan, organize and take independent action	demonstrate the personal qualities that lead to responsible behavior

PROCEDURE

WEEK	Students will	Teachers will
Initiating activity	guess by touch what is under a blanket (Plaster cast of dinosaur track) guess where the track was made discuss dinosaurs, revealing current knowledge guess how the track was made	provide track provide structure for the discussion and questions
Class 2	locate dinosaur books on the shelf as a group, helping each other look at the dinosaur books for 10 minutes participate in discussion of other books that might begin with 5	tell students that the numbers for dinosaurs are 567.9 and 568 Talk about the numbers and tell them the 5 means it is a nature book lead class discussion of other books that might be considered part of nature
Class 3	practice skills of deciding if a book is a nature book and should begin with 5 practice deciding if a subject would be part of the 500’s, 600’s, or 700’s or "other"	suggest subjects for the students to practice classifying as part or not part of nature introduce the 600’s and 700’s suggest subjects for the students to practice classifying as 500’s, 600’s, 700’s or other
Class 4	Read written directions and follow them "Each student will bring back 2 books, one for each number. You will be finished and sitting in your chair by 10:25. student 1 500’s 520’s student 2 590’s 540’s student 3 530’s 560’s student 4 580’s 550’s" look at the 2 books and decide what the general subject of the book is pick one book draw a picture representing the general content of the book	explain that students will be required to follow a set of directions perfectly write on board directions and allow students to ask any questions about the directions. Assign Dewey Decimal subclasses from the 500’s to each student. observe students and make note of how they search for the books (attach checklist of behaviors to look for) instruct students to draw a picture representing the subject of the book they have chosen. Give directions for where to put their name, the Dewey number and the picture. (spatial orientation on the page.) assess using directions rubric in class with the students taking particular care to identify each element of the directions. allow students to correct mistakes
Class 5	follow written directions "Think of 2 different things you like to read about. Get 2 pieces of pink paper from the circulation desk and write one idea on each piece of paper. Give Pat the papers." predict Dewey class of their subject find books related to the subject by using the card catalog and locating the books on the shelf fill in number on chart (on computer)	Introduce poster and charts of the Dewey Decimal System make table on computer using Microsoft Word use this class to reinforce location skills and give individual tutoring for those students who still need assistance
Class 6	find books with same numbers from the table—Same subject? Complete table by hand look up additional books on the PAC (public access catalog)	visit to public library (preplan with librarian there) show students the PAC and give introductory lesson on use
Class 7	add info gathered on visit to the table on the computer add clip art to the table	teach students how to add clip art assist students as needed show students how to access the public library’s catalog through Internet
Class 8	In teams, make a table filling in all blanks with information related to the Dewey Decimal system and the research they are doing for the classroom teacher.	when the students begin their next research assignment, assessment will occur to determine if students have retained and can apply knowledge write directions for students to follow assess using directions rubric
Ongoing		reinforce new dewey numbers referring to chart. For example, pointing out the class when researching a subject, asking students to predict classes for books subjects they like to read about, using call numbers on cat cards to predict if the book is truly what they want

INSTRUCTIONAL/ENVIRONMENTAL MODIFICATIONS

Most of these classes must take place in the school library to allow students access to library books.

Students who need more challenging questions to work on, can be given additional Dewey classes to look at. They could also be asked to check on subjects that the teacher know have more than one classification number, and asked to figure out why that has happened.

For students who require special seating to minimize directions (for example, an ADD student) extra care must be taken to keep them focuses when moving about the physical space and visiting the public library. Some of these students respond well if paired with a cooperative, focused teammate.

Some deaf students may have test modifications entered on their IEP’s that allow test directions to be read to them. For diagnostic purposes students will be required to read all directions for themselves since the goal is as much independence as they are able to achieve. They are allowed to ask questions to clarify information.

MATERIALS AND SUPPLIES

Computer with Microsoft Word
Writing materials
Dewey Decimal chart or poster

ASSESSMENT TOOLS & TECHNIQUES

Directions Rubric
Checklist for location of books
(All assessments should be discussed in the classroom with the students involved in using self-evaluation techniques.)

Directions Rubric

This rubric can also be used to assess for knowledge if it is followed up by class discussion to allow students to evaluate themselves and how well they did. If they did not complete all the elements, was it lack of knowledge or carelessness? The discussion can be an opportunity to reinforce weak skills.

	1	2	3	4
read directions	did not read or try to read the directions	read directions once.(Did not understand). Did not ask any questions.	read and reread directions. Asked unfocused questions.	read and reread directions. Asked focused, specific questions.
followed all elements* in the written directions	did not follow directions. Careless, missing some elements of the directions.	did not follow one or more elements of the directions due to not understanding the directions (For the student who got a 3 or 4 in reading)	understood all elements correctly, but unable to complete due to lack of procedural skills	understood all elements in the directions, correctly followed all elements and completed task
identified problems	unaware of any problem even with prompting	recognized that a problem existed but not able to define it, or ask appropriate questions. May need prompting to recognize that there is a problem.	identifies problem independently and able to ask questions or request assistance	used effective problem solving skills independently
worked quickly and efficiently	no systematic approach and no sense of impending doom!!!	work organized only less than 50% of the time and did not finish on time.	Work organized and focused most of the time. Finished on time.	work done in a focused and organized way. Finished early.

An element is a part of the direction. As an example, if the directions read "Find a true book about cats and read the first chapter." it consists of 4 elements as follows:

element one: The retrieved material should be non-fiction not fiction.

element two: The retrieved material should be a book, not a magazine, video.

element three: The student should begin reading the book, not sit around.

element four: The student should be focused on the first chapter.

Location of books on shelf checklist

___remembered the number or wrote the number down immediately

___rechecked the number if using memory

___moved to correct section of the library

___scanned shelves to locate correct area

___methodically moved in appropriate direction (far up, far down, far left, far right) to narrow the search

___remembers to look right and left

___remembers to look up and down

___found correct area

___moved in appropriate direction in the right area to narrow the search (a little up, a little down, a little left, a little right)

___found book

Specific problems

___moving in inappropriate directions

___"scattershot" search

___found correct area, but could not finetune to get correct book

___found book but rejected it

TIME REQUIRED

8 work periods, plus frequent referral back to this work throughout the remainder of the year. Each work period was about 30 minutes except for the public library trip that took about an hour.

Teacher/Librarian prep time took about an hour, to plan out the best way to teach how to create a table, to select books to use for Class #3 and to contact the public library to arrange the trip.

Assessment will take about 5 minutes per student outside of class time.

REFLECTIONS

The purpose of working on written directions is to enable the students to develop strategies for dealing with written instructions that are difficult or impossible for them to understand without teacher assistance. The ultimate goal over a longer time period than that covered by this experience is to enable the students to understand and follow simple written directions independently.

This unit is an introductory unit. It was not expected that students would be independent immediately. The next step ( in the next library unit) will involve exercises teaching students to identify each element in directions, and creating their own check list to self-evaluate their success.

The students are learning to take more responsibility for understanding and following directions. We are beginning to see this transfer to other areas outside the library.

Emphasis in the unit was on Dewey Classes 500, 600, and 700 because they tied in well with curriculum units that students would be beginning shortly. This would allow them further challenge to apply to the skills learned in doing their research and reports. Other groups of students might need other numbers emphasized to allow them to make to take advantage of other curriculum opportunities, for example in Social Studies.