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Martha Dobson 2011 Teacher on the Trail
As a sixth grade English/language arts teacher, one of my responsibilities is to teach students word processing. By sixth grade, most students are familiar with the mouse, the delete button on the keyboard, and have a general idea of where the letters are on the keyboard. Formatting a document, though, is something they usually aren’t …
Whenever the Iditarod is mentioned, folks are curious to learn more about the race and the athletes, both canine and human. Of course, I am excited to tell them about my trips to the race starts in Alaska, what I know about it, and my upcoming trip for the 2011 race. The most frequently asked …
The dogs of the Iditarod are athletes and get the kind of training and health care human professional athletes get. Volunteer vets man the race’s checkpoints to examine teams as they arrive throughout the race. These dogs have been cleared physically by a pre-race exam which includes bloodwork, EKG, and a physical exam. This article, …
GPS—how did we get anywhere without it! Enter your destination and drive to it! No map unfolding and refolding—map refolding is challenging—it never ends up the way it looked before it was used. GPS directs us to locations using coordinates that map the world. Latitude, longitude, number lines, space, spheres. Coordinates plot points on graphs, …
This lesson plan for grades three through high school uses the book Big-Enough Anna to spark students’ thinking. The book, by Pam Flowers, is a true story about how a little sled dog was big enough to learn to lead the team, to step up when the team counted on her, and to meet a …
It’s after Labor Day and we’re all back in school. I hope you’ve found ways to use the clipart and bookmarks in your classrooms or you have plans to use them during the year. I‘ve had another remarkable Iditarod experience since school began that I’ll share with you. About two weeks ago, my classroom phone rang, and the caller …
When I introduce the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race™ to my students, I use an article, The Story of the Iditarod Trail, for them to read. I watch them reading it to themselves or to their partners, and, it never fails, they perk up and recognition glows on their faces when they read about Balto …
Use the bookmark for your classes. They can be rewards for students who achieve reading goals, everyone can have one for themselves, or use them for end of the year gifts for your students. Print them on card stock so they will stand up to use. I printed bookmarks on my school’s color printer. The …
August is upon us, and we teachers know the clock is ticking towards that first day of school. In July, I posted clip art to help you with bulletin boards, room decorations, and more. You got a great start with reading Big-Enough Anna by Pam Flowers, too. The lessons this month will show you how …
Since I started using Iditarod as a teaching tool in the classroom, I’ve been surprised and amazed by the connections the race has made for me. First, the connections the race makes for my students. The race, the mushers, and the dogs catch the students’ interest and provide real-life examples of the skills the students …