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Teach and Learn
Engaging lessons based on Insider video clips.
Our four-legged correspondents write for all ages..
Collection of all things Iditarod.
Latest Teach and Learn Posts
The village of Kaltag is perched high on the west bank of the Yukon River. Teams will make a short steep climb up the river bank and run down main street to the octagonal log community center in the middle of town. After sledding for many miles on the Yukon, mushers are happy to depart …
These ready to use lessons and activities for reading and writing are a great way to get your students involved in reaching academic success the Idita – way — Follow the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® and engage students in life long learning. (By Martha Dobson) Download the PDF Document: Reading and Writing on …
When teams reach Eagle Island, they have covered about half of the miles they will be traveling on the Yukon River. In his Trail Notes, Don Bowers, Jr. calls this section of trail that runs upstream and into the wind on the Yukon long and boring. He says, “There is nothing but wide-open river and …
Upon reaching Grayling, mushers and dogs have just covered 18 miles of the 148 mile leg of the Iditarod trail that runs up the frozen Yukon River. The village to village snowmachine trail is easy to follow but that doesn’t mean it’s an easy run. The Yukon River is famous for its blustery conditions. The …
Leaving Shageluk and mushing on toward Anvik, the teams will have fewer miles to go than they have covered. Anvik (AN-vik) is the first checkpoint of the southern route on the famous Yukon River. No one would be so bold as to say that it’s downhill to Nome from Shageluk because the Yukon River and …
Shageluk is almost 160 miles from Takotna, the last village populated with humans. Since departing Takotna, the teams have traveled through the ghost towns of Ophir and Iditarod. Handler didn’t actually visit Shageluk as the 2006 Teacher on the Trail because ’06 was an even year so the teams followed the northern route. It was …
BOO again! Sending a ghostly greeting from ghost town and checkpoint, Iditarod. Have you ever wondered where the word or name Iditarod came from? I’ve heard 3 explanations so I’ll share them with you. First, Iditarod was a word used by Athabascans that meant FAR DISTANT PLACE. Second, Iditarod was a word used in another …
Rookie Meeting Math On Saturday, December 4, the rookie meeting for the 50th running of the Iditarod was held via ZOOM. A collection of veteran Iditarod mushers and Iditarod staff joined to preview the race and review the rules and dog care, as well as give advice to this year’s rookies. Use these math …
Over 40 pieces of art for the Trail Mail Art contest were received from across the US this year. We are grateful to Wendy Brott for her continued support of this program, and to Jon and Jona Van Zyle who served as judges and selected this year’s winners. The decision was very difficult for the …
The village of Nulato (nu-LAU-toe) is situated on the mighty Yukon 52 miles down river from Galena. Well before the town was incorporated in 1963, Athabascans from the interior and Eskimos from the coast met at Nulato for trading. After the Russian explorer Malakov arrived in the 1830, an actual trading post was built. The …