Iditarod Fun

I was browsing Pinterest a few weeks ago, as I often do, and noticed that many of the teacher boards I follow were pinning ideas about the Iditarod. Now, who doesn't love the story of Balto (historical accuracy aside, of course)? So, I decided to look up the starting date. When I realized that it started the first weekend of March and there fore hadn't started yet, I immediately knew that this was something my students would follow this year.

I presented them with what the race was, had them choose a Musher (racer) to follow, and they ate it up. We've also successfully tied this into Language Arts, as they have practiced reading comprehension skills, researching skills, biography writing (after researching their musher), comparing and contrasting (comparing and contrasting two different mushers), and now friendly letters (to the third graders about what they have learned about the Iditarod). One of my favorites was the banners they made to cheer on their mushers.

So, here is a glimpse of fourth grade's Iditarod Unit (which is still on going, since the Mushers are still racing):

One of the banners

Every morning we check on their mushers.

Musher Biographies and Pictures

Iditarod Inspired Reading