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Target Iditarod Teacher on the Trail™ Woodsong Journal Ideas
by Jane Blaile
Consider using Gary Paulsen's Woodsong as an Iditarod connection for 4 - 8th graders. It is written in his style - just like he speaks. There are some hilarious anecdotes as well as some fairly philosophical reflections, so everyone who reads it comes away with something new.
This year I am doing a new journal style for part II of Woodsong which is "The Race", Gary's recounting of his first Iditarod run. The journal I made is based on the Iditarod mushers' official bright yellow dog team diaries which are the required "vet book' on their list of gear. The first page is a "dog roster" page where the musher lists the dogs on his/her team in position as well as the age and gender of the dog. Some of the following pages are checkpoint pages. Here the name of the checkpoint is recorded, the type of vet exam given, and any comments the vet may have. I've fashioned a "dog team diary" using yellow copy paper as the covers and ½ sheets of white paper inside with the same format as the actual musher's booklet.
As we read Gary's story, the students list any dogs he mentions from his team on the "dog roster" page, marking the gender if they know it. Then as he tells where he is along the trail, they record the checkpoints in their journals and make "notes" about what is happening at that point in the story. This is a great way for them to summarize, find main events, and record the events of his story as they unfold.
As we read about him going through checkpoints in the story, I show Iditarod Insider clips from that checkpoint as well as use the interactive map on http://www.iditarod.com/ to familiarize them with the trail. They will know the race route well by the time the race starts next March 1, 2008.
To assemble the dog team diary (You can find these forms under my lesson page.):
Copy enough checkpoint pages for each student to have 27 (3 to a page, 9 pages). This will cover either the northern or southern route.
Cut the pages in half and stack them.
Copy and cut the dog roster pages in half. Place one dog roster page on top of each checkpoint stack.
Copy the cover page on yellow (the brighter the better). Cut them in half and place one on each side and staple the booklet on the short side so it resembles a spiral flip notebook.
