The Traveling Quilt arrived at our school in October so it was a great introduction of the Iditarod to my third grade students. As the quilt hung in the room, each student was to pick out one square they wanted to write about. The writing was open ended so I received all different writing from fiction to non-fiction to realistic fiction. Later in the school year, before the Iditarod began, students did a more in-depth study of the race with each group of students choosing one aspect such as: Alaska, Race and Rules, Dogs, etc. For this they put together a multi-media project to share with the class and their parents.
The Traveling Quilt was a great stepping-stone to the Iditarod. Other classes came in to view it and my students were able to teach them a little about the Last Great Race.
