Show and Tell

Students Write Poems

Students from a Lemoyne Middle School’s sixth grade reading class completed their Iditarod unit by reading and writing about stories like: Balto, by Standiford, TOGO, by Blake, Where’s the Boss? by Harter for background knowledge of the Iditarod and sled dog experiences. We then read Gary Paulsen’s Woodsong. One of the writing pieces they completed …

Idita Read in Wisconsin

Hi!  I teach 1st grade at St. John the Baptist School in Green Bay, WI. I just wanted to share what we are doing for the Iditaread challenge.  The Iditaread challenge was kicked off with a small banquet of dog bone shaped Scooby snacks, popcorn balls and snow cones.  During the Banquet teams were announced.  …

Taking Iditarod to the Community

Our small North Carolina town has a strong sense of community—folks and their families have lived here for generations, and the town considers its schools, although part of a county school system, “their schools”. At the holiday season, our local museum decorates for Christmas and invites the schools to provide decorations for its many trees …

Showing Support for Mushers through Art Work

Educational Journalist, Joy Davis, of Indiana and her Basic Skills Class recently made support quilts for three rookie mushers- Pat Moon, Middy Johnson, and Tamara Rose.  The students helped in the design work and layout.  They learned about the mushers while working on the quilts. To view a larger image of the pictures, click on …

Iditarod IS Education! Using Zuma’s Paw Prints is a Teaching Tool

Zuma’s Paw Prints isn’t JUST reading material for your students.  It is more than knowledge about Alaska and the race.  The articles are content for teaching language arts and other curriculum areas. Bonnie Nizamis  is an independent consultant working with schools across the country – and as she teaches teachers how to integrate technology in …

IditaRead™ Success in North Carolina

My school, Northwest Elementary in Kinston, NC, participated in the IditaRead™ for the first time this year. We challenged our 3-5th graders to see if they could read 1049 books.  We started on February 22, and boy did the kids read!  We had no idea that they would take to it quite like they did.  We …

Idita Read Success Story

My class did a modified version of Idita-Read.  I copied all of the materials from the web-site for each of my students.  On the first page of the packet, the students had to set goals.  Our goal as a class was to read for 15 minutes everyday during Language Arts class.  This could be any …

I’ll “Mush” Vicariously Through Books, Video, and the Official Websites

I wrote the attached article for our state (South Carolina) Association of School Librarian’s professional journal, Media Center Messenger. I love following the Iditarod every year and every two or three years we do an Idita-READ event to inspire kids to read. I also attached the letter to parents and reading log that I’ve used …

Iditarod Poetry: Read then Get Writing!

All around the globe, it is time to write Iditarod poetry.  Send us your poems and we’ll share them with our readers! Thank you Marcia and Rhonda for sharing your poetry! Iditarod   by Marcia Claesson The frosted fingers of cold pinch my skin. False images dance before me like ghosts. I dodge terrifying trunks where …

From Student- to Student Teacher – Iditarod: A Powerful Tool

By Guest Educational Journalist, Kristin Lewis I have to immediately start by thanking the educators that work so hard to bring students (including myself) inspiring and exciting lessons and information.  I am a student teacher in New Mexico and this is my first time bringing the Iditarod to the classroom.  The teacher that brought the …