I’d like to introduce my one-year-old Siberian husky. His name is Jake, and he is posing in this picture wearing a reusable Target® bag. Jake is pointing out that sled dogs think it is a very cool idea to help take care of our environment by using cloth or reusable shopping bags. 
He hopes that you will want to join him in cutting down on the use of dangerous and unsightly plastic bags. To encourage your class or school to participate in a “Don’t Forget the Bag Week” program, the Iditarod Education Department would like to issue certificates of participation. In addition, I will post the names of each school that participates on this website
Our goal is to have 50 schools participate. The number 50 was selected to honor the state of Alaska as it celebrates its fiftieth year of statehood in 2009. Please send the name of the sponsoring teacher, school or class, address, and the day of your event to: click here. Then publicize your event and help us reach the goal! I will post the list in mid-March, after the Red Lantern winner has crossed the finish line in Nome.
Jake also reminded me that it was time to post some husky related lessons. So here are two lessons to encourage PK-K students with number readiness. Happy Tails!
Summary: 16 husky number cards help students learn number order and one-to-one correspondence. The accompanying songs teach adding and taking away one.
Download Lesson Plan: Husky Number Cards
Download Lesson Supplement: Husky Take Away Song
Download Lesson Supplement: Husky Plus One Song
Summary: This is a fun and easy daily station where students can practice counting and writing numbers independently.
Download Lesson Plan: Dog Bone Count
This summer when I was in Alaska I had the opportunity to visit a glacier. As my three friends and I approached this amazing wonder of nature all we could say is, “Wow.” Over and over again we kept repeating: “Wow.” We couldn’t seem to find any other word to express the thrill of being there and the awe of what we were seeing and touching. It was simply a “Wow” experience.
When I returned home to North Carolina, I was struck anew by the beauty of my own surroundings. Unfortunately, Western North Carolina is not as pristine and untouched by human excesses as the Alaskan wilderness. I felt a tug, a call to present a project to children at my school and around the world that would empower them to take steps in their young lives to take care of our planet. As educators, don’t we need to instill a respect for our physical world and its limited resources? After careful consideration, I came up with an environmental awareness project called “Don’t Forget the Bag.” It is a project that shows students they can make a difference and show compassion to their planet by just changing one behavior. The effects of that change can be felt locally and globally. The goal was to not only raise awareness, but to also begin a new habit. For one week, students and their families were asked to use cloth or reusable shopping bags and refrain from using the plastic bags that are provided at checkout counters in most stores.
At my school we kicked off “Don’t Forget the Bag” week with a fifteen minute PowerPoint presentation. The slides gave statistics and showed photographs of the harmful effects of plastic shopping bags on the environment. It was a wonderful eye opener for the students to see how plastic bags pollute our communities, our waterways, our forests, and, in particular, how they endanger wildlife that inhabit each of these places all over the world. 
To give students an idea of the magnitude of this problem they were asked to bring in all the plastic bags their families used in one week. The week prior to the presentation they were collected in a washing machine sized box in the entry hallway to the school. After the PowerPoint presentation, the curtains on stage were opened and you could hear the audible gasp as they looked upon the mountain of plastic bags gathered in one week. Students were told that we/they don’t have to wait for legislative action to make a difference: “Let’s try to make new habits starting next week by only using reusable bags.”
To conclude the presentation, faculty, staff, and students were presented with reusable fabric bags. Target®, my sponsor as the 2009 Iditarod Teacher on the Trail, provided 800 bags for this project. Thank you Target® for investing in the environmental education of our children.
I have included the PowerPoint, the letter sent home to parents, and the lesson plan for the “Don’t Forget the Bag” week project. Please consider having your own program during your Iditarod studies.
Download Lesson Plan: Don’t Forget the Bag Lesson Plan
Download Lesson Supplement: Cathy’s Presentation Notes
Download Lesson Supplement: Flyer to be sent home
I’ve had the opportunity this month to take a little trip down memory lane. Two years ago I attended the 2006 Iditarod Summer Conference for Educators in Wasilla, Alaska. During the conference Diane Johnson, the Iditarod Education Director, gave each conference participant a large, square, white handkerchief and asked us to design a square by the end of the week. The square was to reflect the week in some manner: character education, Alaska, the race, the dogs, the mushers, the conference, or the people attending the conference. At the end of the week our squares were to be given to the lovely Carol Helmke, a conference attendee, who volunteered to take all the squares and turn them into a quilt. Carol finished the project by the end of August 2006 and the quilt began its travels. The 2006 Quilt has been to Alaska, Florida, Indiana, Kansas, Wisconsin, Arkansas, Washington, and North Carolina. At each stop it has been displayed, photographed, and loved. Teachers have used the quilt as a teaching tool to inspire the writing of stories and poetry. Others have used the quilt as a spin off for discussions. Why did the artist/author say or write what they did? Is there a message in the square or in the quilt?
I gave my square to Carol in June of 2006. My square is designed like a license plate. There is a cartoon husky running through the mountains of Alaska. It states “Alaska,” “RUN4IT” and the funny thing is I’ve been doing just that for two years. Could this have been a foreshadowing of things to come? Who knows? Finally, two years later and as 2009 Teacher on the Trail, I have seen the completed quilt for the first time, and it is now being displayed in my school. The quilt has been on a remarkable journey, and so have I. I had no idea how that conference would impact my life and the adventure that would unfold. The quilt has brought back a flood of wonderful memories from that first visit to Alaska. It is a vehicle for teachers to inspire their students just as the Iditarod conferences inspire teachers. I have since used the quilt in directing my students to make individual quilts about Alaska and in working together to make a quilt about North Carolina.
This has given us the opportunity to compare the notable features of both states. It seems there is no end to the lessons learned and spawned by this quilt that began over two years ago in Wasilla, Alaska. It is further confirmation of the rich lessons and fresh ideas offered by the Iditarod educational initiative. (Lesson plans for the 12″ x 12″ Alaska quilt can be found here.)
Summary: Students will create their own 12″ x 12″ Alaskan quilt.
Summary: Readers Theater is the reading of a text in a play-like fashion. I have written two scripts. The first script is geared towards pre-readers. The teacher reads the portion of the script that movesthe story, and students respond with a refrain or simple lines that are repetitive and easy to learn. The second script is for written for first and second grade students. Although props and costumes can be involved in an elaborate Readers Theater, most involve the children simply reading the text with good fluency. By performing a Readers Theater, students are given an excellent reason to read, reread, and reread a text; they are practicing for a performance.
Summary: After reading Polar Bears by Gail Gibbons students will complete an ABC or 123 dot-to-dot of a polar bear. The teacher will read the Polar Bear Fact sheet and students willpoint to the corresponding physical feature on their completed dot-to-dot polar bear. For example, when the teacher reads the fact, “Polar bears have small ears so they won’t freeze.” Students point to the ear on their picture. After all the facts have been read, students watch the National Geographic Video. The teacher then introduces the polar bear song to the children.
Could there be a more exciting time to include Alaska and the Iditarod in your curriculum? Many of you know that Alaska is preparing for its 50th anniversary as a state in 2009, but the big news of this Labor Day Weekend is the announcement that Alaska Governor Sarah Palin is the Republican Party’s choice for vice president. With that announcement all eyes turn to Alaska. Everyone wants to know about this candidate who is the first GOP woman on a presidential ticket. Where is she from? What are her views? What is her background? Here are a few interesting bits of information about Sarah Palin for Iditarod followers. Before Palin was governor she was the mayor of Wasilla, Alaska, which is where Iditarod Headquarters is located. In June of 2007 Governor Palin attended the festivities on Musher Sign Up Day at Iditarod Race Headquarters. And the governor’s husband, Todd, loves to race through the snow, but not on a sled. He prefers to ride a snow machine (or snow mobile for those of us who live in the lower 48).
Of course with thoughts turning to Alaska many of the political controversies of that state hit the airways. As I listened to All Things Considered on my favorite National Public Radio station, the topic of global warming came up. Margaret Williams, Alaska’s director of the World Wildlife Fund, shared her observations of how melting Arctic ice is currently affecting polar bears. Later in the day questions arose about the pros and cons of drilling for oil in Alaska’s Arctic National Wildlife Refuge (ANWR). ANWR consists of 19,049,236 acres in northeastern Alaska often referred to as the North Slope region. The refuge supports a greater variety of plant and animal life than any other protected area in the Arctic Circle. This controversy has been going on since the Carter administration.
As we all begin a new school year these political issues give us a marvelous opportunity to educate our students. Without giving our own political views we can use these topics to educate young people on the importance of researching issues, weighing the pros and cons, and forming an educated position. So with these issues in mind, I give to you three lessons on Alaskan animals. I hope you can plug these lessons into your Iditarod studies this year and, as this Labor Day Weekend is the symbolic end of summer, let me wish you a happy and productive 2008-2009 school year!
Summary: During the study of Alaska’s Arctic animals and where they live students will be able to tell the teacher one cold fact about each animal. A cold fact is anything that tells how these animals survive in such a harsh environment. Two facts, for example, that help the willow ptarmigan survive are that he turns white in the winter (his camouflage) and that he grows extra feathers in the winter, even on his feet (for warmth). This information is reviewed and reinforced by playing the Arctic Animal Memory Game and Arctic Animal Bingo.
Summary: Students will look for red, yellow, blue and green toothpicks distributed in a grassy area and discover that the green toothpicks are more difficult to find because they are the color of their surroundings.
Summary: After conducting the toothpick experiment and reading Gone Again Ptarmigan students will see in this art activity how important camouflage is to Alaska’s state bird, the willow ptarmigan and other Arctic animals. (Other Arctic animals that change their coats or feathers with the season are the Arctic fox, the short-tailed weasel (known as ermine in their winter coats), the snowy owl, and the snowshoe hare. Polar bears keep their camouflage all year long!)
It happened twice this weekend. The first time was on Saturday night when I went to see the movie Mamma Mia. I came out of the theater humming ABBA tunes with a smile on my face and a skip in my step. The second time it happened was on Sunday when I heard the National Anthem. Team USA’s men’s 4X100-meter freestyle relay was receiving gold medals at the 2008 Summer Olympics for their amazing victory during the swimming competition. I cried like a baby. In both instances music moved me in a profound way. We all have had this experience, but why does it happen?
Brain research tells us that physiological things happen to us when we listen to and make music. Music causes changes in EEG activity and pulse rate. We as educators can use this research in our teaching strategies because music engages multiple memory pathways and increases receptivity that is known to enhance and accelerate learning (Music with the Brain in Mind by Eric Jensen). Who wouldn’t want to use another mode of instruction to enhance and accelerate learning?! Using this information to incorporate singing and movement in our classrooms is easy, fun, and can happen outside of music class.
I was very fortunate to have the legacy of song writing passed down to me by my friend and mentor, Genevieve Fortuna. Years before the brain research studies were available to the general public she was writing songs as essential pieces of curriculum. She knew that music lifts our spirits and brings joy to our souls; she also knew it was a fun way to deliver information. I learned much from this wise woman, just like husky pups learn from the wise, more experienced sled dogs. Genevieve moved from the classroom several years ago and is currently in the business of parent education, but we continue her music legacy. Now no unit feels quite complete until we have at least one song to go with it!
The lessons I am posting today, August 12, all have accompanying songs. There is a geography song, an art song, an exercise/letter song, an information song, and a fun echo movement song; moreover, they all are about the Iditarod and Alaska. I have posted the words to each song and the tune to which it should be sung. We plan on making the audio recording of each song available to you very soon. I doubt these songs will make you cry like the National Anthem, but they are catchy tunes that really do get stuck in your head. Many parents have shared with me that they hear their children singing these songs around the house. That is strong testimony to the power of a simple song! So when they are available, download the tunes and put a little Iditarod music in your classroom to enhance and accelerate learning!
Summary: Students will learn about the Iditarod by singing and learning a finger play that can also be dramatized.
Summary: Students demonstrate understanding of an area that you are emphasizing in your instruction by circling or underlining on the “Five Little Huskies” handout. For example, students can circle all the capital letters in the poem.
Summary: Students will learn strategies to decode the word “Iditarod.” They will identify all letters by name and sound, place the letters in the correct order and orally read “Iditarod” as a sight word.
Summary: Students will observe Jon Van Zyle’s Iditarod art as well as some of his other work showing the beauty of Alaska. They will learn a song about Jon and then draw their own Mush! Art following a step-by-step format.
Summary: At the end of a three-week study students will draw and label a map of Alaska from memory.
