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Success in the Classroom

Making Sleds and Other Projects

by Melanie Scott

04/16/2008

I teach second grade at Rose Park Christian School in Holland,
Michigan. This is the second year I've followed the Iditarod with my
students and they love it as much as I do! This year I subscribed to
the Insider and the students loved seeing the video clips during the
race. We had several lessons learning about the actual dog sled and
then the students made their own dog sleds from popsicle sticks.
They painted their sleds and then made sled bags, dogs, and other
accessories from pipe cleaners, fabric, and other misc. supplies.
They also made mushers from paper or craft sticks; some of the girls
brought their Polly Pocket dolls for mushers. We displayed the sleds
in the hall during our parent-teacher conferences and they were a big
hit.

We also had an Idita-Read reading incentive from January through
March. The children kept track of their reading (1 minute = 1 mile
on the Iditarod trail); the goal was for everyone to complete the
race by the end of March and to cheer each other on. One student
actually completed the race 3 times and several finished it twice.
Everyone in the class did finish (our Red Lantern reader finished on
our final day) and we celebrated with prizes and ice cream sandwiches
at our racing "banquet" along with the movie "Balto." (Although we
had to discuss reality vs. Hollywood movies as we watched the
movie. ) :)

During the week before the race the class voted on which mushers to
track and they ended up with 6 that we followed. I had traveled to
Alaska last summer and met several of the mushers, so it was fun to
share photos with the kids. Each day (several times) we checked on
their progress and recorded when they reached the checkpoints. It
was fun to hear the children talk about the mushers on a first name
basis, as if they knew them personally.

We also checked the weather in Alaska during the week before and the
week of the race and compared it on a temperature graph with our
weather here in Holland. There were some days it was colder here
than in Alaska and we talked about how the warmer temperatures
weren't great for the dogs.

Following the Iditarod with my class has proven to be a great
motivator for their learning; I'm already excited about expanding it
next year. Thanks for your wonderful website; it's very helpful for
those of us who don't live in Alaska.

Sincerely,
Melanie Scott