Sixth-grade students at John R. Bonfield Elementary learned about the Iditarod in March 2020 due to a grant from the Warwick Education Foundation. The foundation funded the books and technology access that would bring the 1,049-mile race to life.
Bonfield teachers Megan Cupo-Fisher and Meghan Young had selected Newbery Honor-winner Gary Paulsen as the author their class would study. They picked Paulsen's memoir "Woodsong" as a way of introducing the sixth-graders to dogsledding and Alaska's annual Iditarod race. Reading "Woodsong" became the springboard for immersing the students in Alaskan culture, geography and woodcraft; learning about dog-sledding, animal care, and the life of a musher; and following the race day by day through Paulsen's eyes.
Interactive and livestream technology enhanced the learning experience. "Each student picked three different mushers to research and picked their favorite musher to follow on the trail each day," Young noted. She said that students researched individuals mushers and followed their daily progress, journaling about checkpoints, weather, and more and writing narratives from a musher's point of view. Student Dominick Pepo explained that he and his fellow students tracked the mushers using the GPS information on the Iditarod website, and they also had access to other content, including livestreamed interviews.
Young noted that the grant provided funds to purchase a variety of books by Paulsen, allowing students to get a better understanding of his style and craft. The books and technology cost a total of $800, according to Barbara Mobley, executive director of the Warwick Education Foundation.
For parents or grandparents who might want to introduce their children to the Iditarod, Paulsen has also written "Winterdance: The Fine Madness of Running the Iditarod." His three Newbery Honor novels are "Dogsong," "Hatchet," and "The Winter Room."
For more information on the Warwick Education Foundation, readers may visit http://www.warwickef.org or contact Mobley at info@WarwickEF.org.
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