(Under Construction, Keep Checking Back!)

A primary through secondary unit based around the annual Iditarod race,
which engages students in a variety of learning activities surrounding the
history and community engagement of the Iditarod.

Note: Many lessons fit into multiple grade categories and lend themselves
well to the multi-graded classroom.

Primary Teacher Judy Kuhn briefs a mushing team at one of the 20+
Mini-Iditarods that she organized in McGrath. Retired McGrath school-teacher Judy Kuhn (1985-2011) uses the Iditarod to teach thematically–math, history, and social studies. See how she does it.

Unit Plan Mini Iditarod

Unit Plan Upper Elementary

Unit Plan Secondary

Mini-Iditarod Primary Lessons

• Dogs and Dog Sleds
• Iditarod Race History
• The Dog Musher
• Iditarod Mapping
• Health and Safety on the Trail
• Race Organization andParticipation
• Pre-Race Preparation

Primary Teacher Resources

Acrostic Iditarod Poems (PDF)
• Checker's Form (PDF)
• Checkpoints (PDF)
• Daily Grammar (PDF)
• Dog Story (PDF)
• Facts about Iditarod (PDF)
• Famous Iditarod Names (PDF)
• Healthy Sled Dogs (PDF)
• Idita-Read Race (PDF)
• Iditarod Math (PDF)
• Iditarod Champions (PDF)
• Mushing Vocabulary (PDF)

Upper Elementary Lessons

Iditarod Checkpoint Annotated
Timeline and/or Map
• Local Musher Interviews
• Musher Biography
• Musher Letter
• Race Marshal Speech
• The Iditarod Research Paper
• Iditarod Research:The Oral Presentation
• IditaRead Flip Book Project
• The Iditarod Journal

Secondary Lessons

History of the Race
• Interviewing Techniques
• Final Interview
• Documenting the Race in a Village on the Trail
• The Iditarod Journal
• Conducting Effective Interviews
• Checkpoint Preparation: Pies
• Food for the Trail

Secondary Teacher Resources

Pie Chart Rubric (PDF)

Videos• Takotna, Alaska - Iditarod 2013
• Mini Iditarod, 2014