Today the letter “B” takes us all the way to Girdwood, Alaska where we discover that B is for Bears… the Girdwood Grizzlies to be exact! As Teacher on the Trail, part of my responsibilities while in this beautiful state is to present about the Iditarod in local schools. My first day of these presentations I traveled to Girdwood School where I had the pleasure of sharing this amazing race with 3 sets of grade levels from Kindergarten through 8th grade. From the moment you walk through the doors you see the pride they have in their school, which was built only ten years ago. A great number of the students already have a foundation of the Iditarod, which made sharing additional information that much more enjoyable. The kids were respectful, the staff was welcoming, the environment was teaming with Iditarod learning, and the sights were spectacular. Stepping out the front doors to watch the young ones play on the playground, with this incredible mountain in the background, was a sight to behold. To wrap up this first of many days, I decided it would be wise to stick to the letter for today. I couldn’t decide what to eat this evening. Should I have a burger, a burrito, or maybe some barbecue? Nope… Baskin Robbins ice cream it was! A solid choice for any bleary-eyed but blessed Teacher on the Trail.
“B”-fore you go… a few classroom ideas:
- Build a Bear writing- students create a bear character, a problem, and a solution to their story, with Alaska as the setting, focusing on the story elements.
- Sort pictures related to Alaska or the Iditarod that start with B or not and practice writing upper and lower case Bb in print or cursive writing.
- Create a bear den from only materials found in the classroom or using technology apps and coding, such as Scratch Jr. or Tinker with an Alaskan background.
- Make paper bag bear puppets and have students read aloud stories about the Iditarod as if the puppet is the one reading.
- Explore the bear diet focusing on the concepts of carnivore/herbivore/omnivore. Connect to additional Alaskan mammals that fit these categories.
- Use counting bears to practice adding, subtracting, and word problems that have an Alaskan or Iditarod theme.
- Hold a bear debate: Should bears be kept in zoos? Should humans feed bears if they appear hungry? Should bears in Alaska be hunted for food.
