Reading

“Harness Up!” Reading Stamina: August Lesson Plan

When was the last time you got completely lost in a book? I confess—for me that was yesterday. I love to read! I recharge by being alone and quiet, so I grew up filling my quiet time with amazing texts describing travel, adventure, and wonderful characters. As we enter the fall training period for young …

Iditarod National Historic Trail Junior Trailblazer Booklet

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race is run along the Iditarod National Historic Trail.  The Bureau of Land Management and other entities that own the land which the trail runs through all work in conjunction with the Iditarod Trail Committee to run the race each year.  It is Alaska’s only winter National Trail and was …

IditaRead Finisher’s Certificate

Your IditaRead “mushers” may be crossing the finish line soon. Here are the PDFs and jpeg for a black and white or a color finisher’s certificate for you to present to your finishers. Additionally, we want to thank the over 1,200 teachers that signed up for the digital IditaRead program.  The suggestion box is live …

Iditarod: The First Ten Years – Reading Informational Text

Following our Teacher on the Trail’s theme of the Iditarod Air Force, this month’s lesson prompt, based on the book “The First Ten Years”, is for pages 114 – 115, 117 – 118. “The History of the Early Iditarod Air Force” by Rob Stapleton. The comparison text is “Iditarod Air Force: lifeblood of the race” …

Summer Reading – Dog Days of Summer

As we get closer to halfway through summer, students often need serious inspiration to be motivated to read.  The books we have on our Elementary Fiction and Elementary Nonfiction lists are bursting with tales of inspiration, daring, adventure, and acceptance.  With beloved characters like Balto and Togo and inspiring new stories like Sled Dog School, …

Summer Reading – Sizzling Reads About Cool Dogs!

Summer is ticking along and kids have all kinds of activities going on, but there are always those moments for relaxing, filling time between the water park and the summer movie series, and riding in the car to the next great vacation destination.  Or use reading goals to incentivize reading for your student; they will …

IditaRead Digital: The Last Great Reading Race Reaches Over 21,000 Students

On February 7, the Iditarod Education Department launched the new digital version of a favorite Iditarod classroom activity, an Iditaread.  Embracing technology and realizing the need for virtual and digital tools for learning, the education department and our technology partners developed version 1 of the IditaRead Digital. And you, our Iditarod teachers, responded immediately and …

Get Ready to Visit Flat!

For the first time in Iditarod history, the teams will be traveling seven miles southeast from Iditarod to the town of Flat, Alaska. Flat came into existence after the Christmas Day, 1908 Gold Rush on Otter Creek by John Beaton and W. A. Dickeman. Although word of that strike got out slowly, in 1909 more …

Literacy Lessons for the book – Iditarod The First Ten Years AN ANTHOLOGY compiled by THE OLD IDITAROD GANG

The Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race’s early history is recorded in the incredible book, Iditarod – The First Ten Years. This book is a must own for any educator using the race with students. If you don’t own a copy, we highly suggest you make plans to order a copy today. Lesson plans for classroom …

Practicing Reading Skills with Iditarod Photos

Photos are a great way to introduce students to reading skills they may be unfamiliar with or need extra practice with prior to using more complicated texts. Moving from photos, to short passages, to longer texts allows students to have a chance to refine their skills and build their confidence.  The Iditarod is fortunate to …