Curriculum for the Classroom

IditaRead™ Challenge

Join an IditaRead™ and race from Anchorage to Nome! An IditaRead is an excellent way to encourage students to read. An IditaRead™ is held in connection with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® —  the Iditarod Trail and the Iditarod Mushers are used as ‘benchmarks’ of reading progress for students.  Most IditaReads are held in …

Service Learning Project: Books to the Trail

Each year, through generous donations from businesses and schools, students in need receive new books to read.  Most of the schools in need are along the Iditarod Trail or other communities in Alaska, but we try to include schools in need anywhere in the United States this project. We are now accepting applicants from classrooms …

Thinking Interdependently: Habits of the Mind

Thinking Interdependently by Judi Roach Title: Habits of Mind and Iditarod connection Developed by: Judi Roach Discipline / Subject: Self-Regulation/Life Skills Topic: Teaching the 16 Habits of Mind using Iditarod Insider Clips Grade Level: 3rd Through 12 Resources / References / Materials Teacher Needs: Habits of Mind mini posters/Iditarod Insider Video Clips/Sled and dog chart/white …

IditaMath: School Project to Engage Students in Math Practice at Home: Project at Larson Elementary School, Alaska

Idita Math, a project from Larson Elementary School, Wasilla, Alaska.  Quick summary of the project:  Students were challenged to complete math goals at home and ‘race from Anchorage to Nome’ as they practiced their math basic skills.  Teachers created math goals according to the needs of the students.  Overall, the project goal was to help …

Computation and Daily Math Challenge! The Annual Idita-math Competition By Jared Cochran, Geared for 6th Grade, Can be Converted to Other Grade Levels

Annual Idita-math Competition By Jared Cochran Having 96 students,  I decided to break students up into 6 equal teams. Each team had 16 students and each team is given a team name based on one of their favorite mushers.  2009 teams were: Team Buser, a Team Mackey, a Team King, a Team Seavey, a Team Swenson, and a …

Create ABC Books About Iditarod and Alaska

Creating an ABC book is an excellent way to combine research, writing, and technology skills. Each year, hundreds of teachers assign students  to create ABC books about Alaska and/or the Iditarod.  Here is an example of one such book.  If you have examples of student made books such as this, we’d love to share them …

A Magical Day!

The Ceremonial Start of the 2014 Iditarod has been completed.  Mushers and teams are doing their last minute chores and hopefully getting a good night’s rest before tomorrow’s restart.  Tomorrow it starts for real, but today was all about the atmosphere, the fans, the celebration and the fun – for mushers, friends, family, fans, and …

Monica Moving to the Starting Line!

She’s ready to go! [wpvideo fdbthYI3]

Book Reviews: Iditarod Dream & Woodsong

Two books for your reading pleasure this month; Iditarod Dream, a photo essay of Dusty Whittemore’s championship run in the Jr. Iditarod, and Woodsong, Gary Paulsen’s memoir of his experiences learning to run dogs and his first Iditarod race.With the Jr. Iditarod running the last weekend of February and the Iditarod starting the first weekend …

Book Review–Akiak A Tale from the Iditarod

by Martha Dobson, Iditarod Educational Consultant A new book review is on the Education Portal. Find out about this realistic fiction book by author and illustrator Robert J. Blake. It’s another book to add to your school or classroom library to increase students’ knowledge of the race.