Sorting with K

A big part of information literacy is being able to recognize patterns and to categorize facts, sources, etc. We're starting to work on these skills in kindergarten.

First we read Different? Same! by Heather Tekavec and Pippa Curnick, and the students shared their observations on what certain animals that, say, live in different habitats have in common. Then they each got a card with a colored shape and had to find at least one other person whose card was the same in one way:

Nonfiction Call Numbers with Grade 3

The Dewey Decimal system is a way of sorting nonfiction books. I don't expect my students to memorize specific numbers; that's what the online catalog is for. I do, however, want them to understand how certain topics go together. At least according to how Mr. Dewey thought they did.

Each third grader got a slip of paper with a number and a topic. They had to find other students with the same number and figure out how the different topics could be classified under one major label. If you are not a third grader and think you have cracked the code, put your answers in the comments!

• 500s: planets, electricity, magnets, weather, dinosaurs, bugs, ecosystems, animals
  
  
• 700s: movies, art, photography, music, sports, jokes, crafts
  
  
• 900s: ancient civilizations, countries, states, wars, explorers, named rivers and mountains
  
  

The next week, using what they knew about the categories, each student had to assign the correct "hundreds" to a list of topics. To get a 4 on the assignment, they could create a book cover for a nonfiction topic and put the correct call number on the spine label. Here are the ones that were completed correctly: 

New Amulet!

I picked this up at a bookstore yesterday ... it's not in Destiny Discover yet, but if students want to get in the holds line, they can comment below or email me.

Most Borrowed Books - January

• 
  Garden City Yearbook
  
  
• Allergic by Megan Wagner Lloyd (graphic novel) 
   
  
• Dog Man: Lord of the Fleas by Dav Pilkey
  
  
• The Baby-sitters Club 10: Kristy and the Snobs by Chan Chau
  
  
• The Baby-sitters Club 4: Claudia and Mean Janine by Raina Telgemeier
  
  
• Cat Kid Comic Club: Collaborations by Dav Pilkey
  
  
• Dog Man: Mothering Heights by Dav Pilkey
  
  
• Wimpy Kid: No Brainer by Jeff Kinney
  
  
• The Baby-sitters Club 1: Kristy's Great Idea by Raina Telgemeier
  
  
• Best Friends by Shannon Hale (graphic novel)
  
  
• The Baby-sitters Club 2: The Truth About Stacey by Raina Telgemeier
  
  
• Dog Man: Brawl of the Wild by Dav Pilkey
  
  
• Dog Man: For Whom the Ball Rolls by Dave Pilkey
  
  
• Dork Diaries: Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl by Rachel Renee Russell

A-maze-ing Achievers T2 - First Half

There is a maze built into one of the library walls, and students try and try to get the silver ball bearings into the middle. Several completed the maze during the first half of trimester 2 ... but only a few have gotten TWO ball bearings to the center! Will anyone get all three???

NOTE: They got even closer, but then 
someone spun the maze before I got that photo.

The rest ... we have some experts with multiple solves: