Language Arts – Literacy

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 …

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 …

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.

Service Learning Opportunity–Blankets for Dogs

by Martha Dobson, Iditarod Educational Consultant Read this to find out about making blankets for the Iditarod race checkpoints to use for dogs staying there who have been dropped from their teams. Students can apply a host of educational skills while working on this project.

Book Review–Foxy’s Tale: The True Story of A Champion Alaskan Sled Dog

An elementary level, true story of an Alaskan sled dog who overcomes size, injury, and more to win the Junior World Championship Sled Dog Race. The author is available for Skype presentations, too. Read more here.  

Book Review–Ghosts in the Fog: The Untold Story of Alaska’s WWII Invasion

A recent, narrative nonfiction account for middle school age and older, through adults, about a part of WWII kept secret for decades. Find out more here. 

Reader’s Theater Play: Rules of the Iditarod

A Reader’s Theater Play is a fun way for students to practice dramatic reading.  This play, created by Jennifer Slifer, Connecticut,  has been used with middle school students but can also be used with elementary students.  Teachers can adapt this script to the appropriate reading level.   PDF COPY to download  Reader’s Theater Play: Rules …

Recommended Reading Lists

Are you looking for a book to use with your Iditarod unit of study?  You’ve come to the right place! We’ve compiled a list of books to help you. In an effort provide you with useful resources that have been carefully vetted, we have limited our book list to books about Iditarod, the sport of …

Read Across Your State! Read Across the United States!

We’d like to hear about your ‘Read Across Your State’ or your school’s Idita-Read.  Send your project updates to us and we’ll share them with our readers!