Betsy Long

School Librarian, Doby’s Mill Elementary School, Lugoff, SC

Idita-READ

A Reading Motivation Program

By: Betsy Long, Doby’s Mill Elementary School

All my life, I have been a dog lover. Yes, I was one of those little girls who read every dog-eared, gnawed-on book at 636.7 and frequently pestered my librarian to pleeeease get some new dog books. Since reading Gary Paulsen’s Winterdance, about his own experiences in twice completing the Iditarod, I have been fascinated with “the last great race on Earth” The thrill, the adventure, & the danger captivate me and fill me with awe & admiration. A few of years ago, in celebration of the race, which spans approximately10-17 days in early March, I started giving daily Iditarod updates on the morning news show, teaching the kids about the1150+ mile race, sharing facts about the mushers, Alaska, and the dogs. There are dozens of great children’s books that can be used to illustrate these ideas. A few that I have used are: Akiak: A Tale from the Iditarod, by Robert Blake, Dogteam, by Gary Paulsen, the non-fiction selection, Dogs of the Iditarod, by Jeff Schultz, and of course, Balto, the historical-fiction tale of the 1925 delivery by sled dogs of lifesaving diphtheria serum to Nome.

Last year, I ramped it up a bit, giving each teacher detailed and enlarged maps of the trail so they could follow along with my reporting in the classroom. I created book and informational displays about the race in the Media Center, and I invited classes in for lessons integrating research skills, reading, writing, math, science, and social studies through the Iditarod. We researched arctic animals, learned about Alaska and the Inuit, calculated distance using the trail map, and utilized the official Iditarod website (www.iditarod.com), which is full of wonderful information & stunning photography & video. I also hosted a guest musher from South Carolina. That’s right! The Palmetto State (Chapin, to be exact) is home to Chapin Burgess, a sled dog racer who plans to run the Iditarod sometime in the near future. He was an outstanding speaker who mesmerized my students with his fascinating presentation and beautiful dogs, of which he brought six!

I cannot take credit, however, for coming up with the idea to organize a reading incentive program or devising teaching opportunities that parallel the race. Several schools across the nation coordinate related events. Using the search terms Iditarod + lesson plans reveal scores of lesson possibilities on the Internet. I recently stumbled across a homeschooling group on the Internet (WorldWide IDEA) that has a very interesting and organized Idita-READ program. The Official Iditarod website has an entire section just for educators, offering lesson plans and other educational opportunities, one of which includes being the “Teacher on the Trail,” an educator that rides along with a musher during the race! After reading about several schools’ Iditarod reading programs, I tailored one that worked for my school setting. Perhaps it will inspire you to try something similar this year…

For our Idita-READ, I challenged all students in grades PK-5 to record all minutes that they spent voluntarily reading. They could count time spent reading independently or time that someone read to them. The two classes who read the most number of minutes earned an invitation to the State Read-In in Columbia. We ran the contest for a two week period. I sent home an explanatory letter and a reading log for each week and I tracked each class’ progress on a prominent bulletin board. Since the Iditarod is over 1150 miles long, I set each class’ goal at 1150 minutes. I secretly hoped (and dropped hints to the effect on the morning news show) that each class could easily read at least 2500 minutes if each child read just 20 minutes a day for the entire period. I was absolutely thrilled to watch nearly every class in my school pass the 2500 mark by the end of the contest. Even better, I finally had a successful reading incentive program that didn’t involve reading certain books at a certain level or taking computerized tests! For this program, the kids could literally read ANYTHING they desired—imagine that!

The students, teachers, and parents really enjoyed participating in the program, and several of my classes (enthused by their teachers) were truly competitive in the process. I ended up taking a second grade and a fifth grade class (who read over 8000 minutes between them) to the State Read-In, and we had an outstanding time! On the way home, we stopped for lunch at a local park and enjoyed a nature walk before heading back to school just in time for dismissal. It was an awesome way to celebrate the students’ reading accomplishments, and the only expenditure for the library was the cost of the bus, which I paid for with book fair money. As a testament to the program’s success, I’ve had kids asking about the 2008 Idita-READ since this school year began, and the countdown is about to begin. As soon I submit our book award votes, I’ll start making plans for this year’s event. I hope some of you will join me. Mush!

Click here to view the letter to parents.

]]> http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/2010/03/14/i%e2%80%99ll-%e2%80%9cmush%e2%80%9d-vicariously-through-books-video-and-the-official-websitets/feed/ 0 http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/2010/02/24/meet-the-finalists-for-target%c2%ae-2011-iditarod-teacher-on-the-trail%e2%84%a2/ http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/2010/02/24/meet-the-finalists-for-target%c2%ae-2011-iditarod-teacher-on-the-trail%e2%84%a2/#comments Thu, 25 Feb 2010 03:10:19 +0000 Diane http://iditarodblogs.com/teachers/?p=2834 Finalists have been chosen for the Target® 2011 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™.  The finalists, Blynne Froke, Martha Dobson, and Sally Simon will be in Anchorage during the week before the start of the race to complete selection process activities and interviews.  They will participate in a wide variety of activities, and coverage of their activities will be included at this section of the website.

We’d like to introduce the finalists to you and invite you to follow the interview and selection activities during the next several weeks by checking back at this website for future articles.

Martha Dobson

A lifelong North Carolinian, I am married with three children, a middle school teacher for eight years, and a person for whom challenges are a chance to do the unusual to experience life. A quiet leader, I understand the value of listening, observing, and then taking action.

I hold a bachelor degree in psychology and a middle grades teaching certificate from Meredith College in Raleigh, NC. Over the years I have taught public school, returning to the classroom eight years ago, volunteered extensively in the community through Girl Scouts and service organizations, and traveled within the United States and abroad. Since 2005, I’ve traveled to Alaska five times for the winter and summer Iditarod teacher conferences and vacation, volunteered at the 2006 and 2009 races, and visited five kennels.

In 2005, teaching brought me to the Iditarod, and the bug bit, hard. I discovered the race’s lure and its challenges, and when I learned about the Teacher on the Trail position, I set application for the position as my goal. As Iditarod mushers are closely acquainted with perseverance, I also have become a close and personal friend of this character trait through the application processes for the 2009 and 2010 races, and now the 2011 race.

Riding in the ceremonial race start as an Idita-Rider was the highlight of 2005 for me, the quiet greenway, and only the shushing of sled runners and the jingle of harness to be heard. It was a small taste of what the race could be.

Iditarod hooks students because of the dogs and the uniqueness of the event and Alaska and, students learn, in a unique way, the skills necessary for success.  Borrowing from Professor Randy Pausch (1960- July 2008), Iditarod is a great “head fake” because students are so interested in the race they don’t realize they’re learning educational skills. I’ve seen Iditarod reach students when little else has, and create success for those with limited success. I love introducing them to the uniqueness of the race and Alaska and seeing them come to appreciate a lifestyle so different from their own.

View one of Martha’s lessons, How Cold is It? Temperature 3 Line Graph

Students will accurately plot temperature lows on a graph using dates and temperatures. Students will connect each location’s temperature to create a line graph, creating a 3-line graph, and write a summary of the data. 5th to 8th Grade, Math

Blynne Froke

It seems like Blynne Froke has been on the go her whole life. She was born in Canada and emigrated to California and every summer involved a car trip back home. When her father was sent to Venezuela for work, Blynne went along to start high school. It took seventeen years and three states to complete her college education, but she didn’t give up.

Summer 2007 found her back in South America with her brother working in Bolivia. For the last thirty years though Blynne has lived in rural northern California where she raised two beautiful daughters with husband, Mike and an ever growing assortment of dogs and cats.

After teaching English at the junior high level for almost 12 years, Blynne decided she was up for a real challenge and as is common in her life an opportunity presented itself.  Community Day School is a contained last chance classroom for students that have been expelled. Now she is teaching everything from P.E. to Physics to British Lit.

It seems like challenge has been a commonly sought after theme in Blynne’s life and these students would not disappoint. Her signature use of patience and passion seemed to work for many, but something more intense was needed to draw in these very needy students and she was on the search again. By chance Blynne read a book about the Iditarod and shared it with her students. They shared her excitement. That was three years ago. What started as a half an hour read aloud turned into a cross-curricular thematic program around what she saw as the most important themes of goal-setting, planning, personal responsibility, problem solving and stewardship. It has found such fertile ground as to graduate twice as many students as before.

Blynne has embraced challenge not only in professional life, but in her personal life as well. What started as a whim, a couch to 5k running club, turned into another great passion. Three years and a hundred pounds later, she has completed two half marathonsand is training for a third.

View one of Blynne’s lessons,  Heroes of the Iditarod, A Living  Wax Museum.

Lesson Summary:  Students learn about an individual hero of the Iditarod and create a “wax museum” display.  This is an excellent culminating activity suitable to Open House Night.  Grades 5 and up, History, Social Science

Sally Simon

Sally Simon is from Westchester County, New York where she is an enrichment/gifted and talented teacher in the Hendrick Hudson School District. Her teaching duties are split between two schools: Furnace Woods Elementary School and Blue Mountain Middle School where she teaches advanced 6th grade math. Sally is also the video club advisor at the middle school which is pioneering a broadcast studio this school year. She feels fortunate to be in a position to create her own standards based curriculum, and has capitalized on using the Iditarod across the curriculum in every area from math and science to writing and social studies. While attending the Winter Conference for Educators in 2009, Sally, a self confessed “techie,” sent the 2009 Iditarod experience back to her students using a daily blog, and audio/video podcasts. She believes “to be a good teacher is to expose students to the world and guide them in their interpretation of it.”

The excitement of following a dog sled race is what first interested Sally in teaching the Iditarod. However, she soon discovered the Iditarod is not only an event, but a lifestyle rich with lessons to be learned: Alaskan culture, the spirit of the people, the history of the race, creative problem solving, character education, and life skills to name a few. This year, Sally is developing curriculum themed on a critical aspect of the Iditarod, TEAMWORK, for both her school and local community organizations.

Sally and her husband Gary have been married for twenty years and have two sons, 12 and 14. They share their home with three dogs, a legion of chipmunks, and a family of deer who call their backyard home. As a family they are active in the community through their schools, church and community theatre. They also share a love of travel and have visited many places in the USA, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Europe, and Costa Rica. In her spare time, Sally enjoys reading, fencing, acting in and directing plays, home decorating and playing games with her kids.

As a finalist for 2011 Target ® Teacher on the Trail,™ Sally’s goal is to make the Iditarod a meaningful learning experience for a greater number of people including senior citizens, community organizations, youth groups, and colleague

View one of Sally’s lessons,  It Takes a Team: Iditarod Volunteers

Lesson Summary:  Using the cooperative learning strategy of jigsaw, students learn the roles of various Iditarod volunteers.  Grades 3 – 8, English/Language Arts

****  Read more about the finalists at this link! (by Gypsy the K 9 Journalist)

Click on this to use the Iditarod forms for your students.  Tip:  Ask students to save the forms to the computer.  Students can then type on the form instead of printing out the forms to practice ‘green’ habits.

To use a map to track student progress in an Idita Read™  follow these directions:

First click on the image to view the larger version of the image.

Next, right click on the image to save the image to your computer.  (Save Image As)

Choose a name such as, “Diane’s Iditarod Trail map” (only your name!) so you can easily locate your map on the computer.

Once you have completed that step, go to the PAINT program and open that program.   Select: File and then Open.  Locate the image on your computer.  (Find it where you saved it!)

After your map is on your screen, select a color and tool (such as the spray paint) to trace your progress along the Iditarod Trail.  Be sure to save the map so that race progress is updated.

Each students can save their own map and use it to show their progress during the Idita Read™.

For those who do not have a PAINT program on the computer, click on the map to enlarge the view.  Print the map.  Use markers to trace your progress or glue colorful stars or stickers on the checkpoints to show reading progress.  Print in gray scale to save on ink.

Optional method of recording progress using these bookmarks to record the book titles.

Teacher’s tool:  Award Certificate

Teacher’s tool: Bookmarks to download for students.  Give as rewards or incentives!

*Special thanks to teacher, Sheila Blair, for sharing the forms she used with her students.   Her ideas were used in the creation of the forms for this article.

For additional information on Idita Read projects™ click here.

Editor’s note:   Hundreds of schools around the nation have created incredible Idita Read projects that align reading goals and use our race, the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race, as the project’s theme. Teachers have provided testimony that an Idita Read project is engaging to students and that students are empowered to read more during an Idita Read project than other times of the school year.   Students enjoy reading and ‘racing’ the mushers from Anchorage to Nome.  An Idita Read™ program can be used at any grade/reading level and be designed to meet individual or group reading goals.  We salute those schools and teachers for using the race as a tool to encourage students to read more!

An example of a school project that exemplifies an Idita Read can be found at this website link.  This Idita Read project is run by Sally Javier of IDEA. (Homeschool with Interior Distance Education of Alaska, a part of the Galena City School District.)  At this link, you will find many great ideas that you can adapt to your own classroom or school Idita Read™ project.  The IDEA Idita Read project that Sally Javier facilitates for homeschool families each year serves as a modal for a school district wishing to create or design their own Idita Read™ project.  As education director for Iditarod, I applaud Sally for her dedication to encouraging students to read and thank her for willingness to share her ideas with others.

Photo of Jeff King, provided by Sally Javier.

Other successful Idita Read projects have been run by Sheila Blair  (Click here to learn more) and this project in Wisconsin.  (Click here.) Check back for other examples soon to be posted!

The education department does encourage teachers or schools to create their own Idita Read projects using the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race as inspiration for the project.  We welcome your using  the race theme or our materials (or creating your own materials to use), but do not give permission for you to create an Idita Read project to sell to others.  If you do discover an Idita Read project that requires you to pay a fee to participate in the Idita Read, keep in mind this is not an official Iditarod project and permission to sell an Idita Read™ — Iditarod Educational project to teachers/schools/home school families has not been granted.

We encourage teachers to create an Idita Read program that ‘works’ for their own students because we know that our race is an inspirational tool to encourage your students to read and learn!   Students have fun reading, enjoy racing their musher to checkpoints and into Nome, and many students discover new books and authors along the Idita-Read Trail!

We’d enjoy hearing about your Idita-Read projects and your success.  Please send an email. We’ll post your ideas to help others create projects for their students.

An I Kid A Rod™ is an Iditarod race simulation.

An I Kid A Rod™  can be held in a variety of ways.  Some involve participants from one classroom or grade level while other I Kid A Rod™ projects involve several classrooms or grade levels.  Some  involve an entire school.

An I Kid A Rod™ can be held anywhere that there is space for the project.

No matter what, an I Kid A Rod™ is an opportunity for students to demonstrate what they’ve learned and enjoy their own race.

Here are some ideas for you to hold your own I Kid A Rod™.

View a PowerPoint presentation showing an I Kid A Rod™ at a school in Alaska.  Click here!

Read this PDF booklet about IditaReads™ and IditaRaces™ to get ideas on creating your project.  Click here!

Email us information about your I Kid A Rod™ so we can share your ideas with our readers!

An IditaRead is held in connection with the Iditarod Trail Sled Dog Race® —  the Iditarod Trail and the Iditarod Mushers are used as ‘benchmarks’ of reading progress for students.  Most IditaReads are held in February or March, with a stronger emphasis during the Iditarod.

Each year hundreds of IditaReads are held all around the world.  Iditarod began promoting IditaReads (or Idita-Reads) in the 1980’s.

What is an Idita – Read?

• An Idita Read is a project that challenges students (or adults) to read.
• Reading goals are set up according to the learner’s needs.
• An Iditarod Trail map is used to chart the readers progress – reading from checkpoint to checkpoint – Anchorage to Nome.
• Checkpoints are ‘reached’ by meeting the goal of reading a number of minutes, pages, or a book for each checkpoint.
• Miles from checkpoint to checkpoint are sometimes used as benchmarks equating to the number of minutes, pages, or books  read.
• Teachers have documented that students read more during ‘Iditarod’ than any time of the year!!!

Download and print out a map to use for recording progress.

Go Green:

• If you must print a map, print in draft mode and have students color their maps.
• Consider laminating the maps you print out so they can be used again.
• Save the map to your computer.  Have students copy and paste the map into their document.  Students can then use paint and drawing programs to chart their own progress on the computer.

Meet Cindy Wilson’s students!

Cindy’s brother made them a wheeled sled for their Idita Race.

Each year, hundreds of schools around the world hold their own Iditarod  in parks, on school grounds, along beaches, or even in backyards.  After studying the race and completing lessons, the learning is put to test in classroom or school wide Iditarod events.

No matter what you call it— Mini- Iditarod races, IKidARod,  or School Iditarod, the result is the same.  Students practice basic content skills and enjoy the race.

Send us pictures and information about the Idita Race in your school or community to help teachers plan their future events!

We went to a company called imagestuff.com and ordered these cool dog tags as reading incentives for the kids.  They run about $.30 apiece when ordered in a large quantity.  Any student reaching their reading goals for the Iditaread received one.  We have given the official Iditarod pencils in the past.

I got  each classroom a dog bootie, and provided them with a poster board on which teachers could post maps to track their mushers and class reading totals.

I also hung a banner at the school entrance that read “MLD Iditaread”.  Finally, we ordered about 12 new children’s books on Alaska and the Iditarod for our school library, and I set out my large collection of books, maps, videos, flags, etc., for all the teachers to use.

Ms. Blair

View the classroom packet created by Ms. Blair by clicking here!   (PDF DOC)

The students sit at a table with their team for the duration of the race. They work as a team each day to keep their space clean. They are asked to work as a team to complete various assignments. Students record reading minutes which are totaled each week. The students graph their minutes by teams until the last day of the race. During the 2009 race, our last day was March 22nd.

This year, I read many stories about the Iditarod, Alaska, and Eskimos.  Students learned about totem poles and made their own totem pole to retell a story of their choosing.

This year I have found more lessons from the Iditarod Insider that I will work on incorporating into my curriculum.  I am hoping in the future I will be able to teach many subject areas around the Iditarod during March.

From April

We have created our own version of the Ikidarod that we have done since 2007 in which the students actually form teams and compete against each other.  A local TV station came out in 2007 and did a short story on it if you would like to take a look.   mms://media.k12.sd.us/aj031/ikidarod_2007_2007_05_17.wmv

Click here to view our Ikidarod Math Project. (PDF)

Take a look at this link to view the Ikidarod held at White Lake Elementary School.  Be patient, it takes a few minutes to load the images, but it is well worth it to look at ideas for your own IKIDAROD.

Click here!

Send us information about your school’s Ikidarod so we can post information to help other schools plan their events.