4th Grade Language Arts

Welcome to Debski’s Diner: Lesson Ideas from the I.C.E. Cohort

Our first Iditarod Certified Educator’s cohort is off and running down the trail! Their first challenge was to develop a quick lesson idea based on the theme of Debski’s Diner. Debski is the amazing cook for all of the volunteers in Nome. She serves as a kind of den mom for all of the volunteers …

Could A Rookie Win the Iditarod?

Grades 3-6 (others with modification) One of the big buzzes that was happening at the first day of sign ups for the 2018 Iditarod is that Matt Hall, the 2017 Yukon Quest winner, has signed up for his rookie Iditarod run. One question that was asked repeatedly? “Could he win the Iditarod as a rookie?” …

World Read Aloud Day!

“World Read Aloud Day motivates children, teens, and adults worldwide to celebrate the power of words and creates a community of readers taking action to show the world that the right to literacy belongs to all people.” (World Read Aloud Day Website) This Thursday (February 16, 2017) classrooms across the globe will celebrate World Read …

An Animal Encounter

Over the summer I did a post about Alaskan animals.  I was fascinated by seeing a moose, porcupine, and bear all in one night.  After that night, I took what I saw and turned it into a language arts and science lesson.  Along the Iditarod trail, and during training, a musher may encounter may different …

Book Review: Sled Dogs Run

By Jonathan London and illustrated by Jon Van Zyle, the Official Artist of the Iditarod, this book for 6-9 year olds describes a young musher’s experience raising and training sled dog puppies and her run with them on a sled in winter. Readers as young as 4 years old and as old as 11 and …

Book Study: Diamond Willow – A Novel in Poetry

Grades 5-8 (Lessons could be adapted for other levels) Diamond Willow is a young Alaskan girl of Athabaskan and European descent who wants nothing more than to be allowed to mush her team of dogs alone to her grandparents’ house.  When her first solo trip results in a horrible accident that blinds her family’s favorite …

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

Just in after walking my Siberian husky and moving on to this review of Foxy’s Tale: The True Story of a Champion Alaskan Sled Dog by Ed White and Donna Freedman and illustrated by Charles Lindemuth. My husky and I didn’t walk as fast as Foxy runs in this true story of a dog and …