Happy New Year around the world to all the readers of the Innovative Teaching Newsletter! Here's to a year full of promise - for growth and learning for us and our students! We kick off the new year with a Mysteries edition - great sites on all kinds of mysteries as well as the logical reasoning processes that take place in solving them. I think you'll enjoy the offerings herein!

The eIditarod project is now up to 200 classes for the 2002 year with one week left to register. If you or someone you know would like to get in on the fun and learning, go to http://surfaquarium.com/e_iditarod.htm by January 11th!

• 2002 Official Iditarod Site - http://www.iditarod.com/
  This is the official site of the Iditarod Trail Committee, and it's very comprehensive. There's lots of information here - everything you need to follow the race for FREE: history, geography, weather, news sources, strategy, mushers biographies, information on the dogs, and real time updates of the race once it begins March 2nd!! This will be a major resource for the eIditarod project mentioned above.
• AKC Alaskan Malamute Page - http://www.akc.org/breeds/recbreeds/alasmal.cfm
  The American Kennel Club offers wonderful, detailed information on the breed that fuels the race; the kids love the dogs and this site makes you an instant authority on their characteristics, breeding and upkeep. The entire package is nicely formatted and colorfully attractive for kids.
• Alaska - http://www.education-world.com/a_sites/sites071.shtml
  This is a Great Sites piece I wrote for Education World on classroom resources for the study of our 49th state. It's full of useful links you can use for a study of the history and geography of Alaska.
• Alaska History Toolbox - http://www.kpbsd.k12.ak.us/akhistory/aktools.htm
  Great material for the teacher who wants to dig deeper into the history and culture of the land that gives us this enduring racing tradition. And look at the depth of material here. If you're looking to implement an Alaska unit in which the Iditarod is one component, this is a great place to start.
• Alaska Science Explained - http://www.alaskascience.com/
  Neal Brown hosts this site, which includes a nice segment on the Aurora Borealis and a good presentation of remote mapping to boot. There's links for further study and an interesting section on rockets that may be useful in other units you will cover this year.
• Alaska's Iditarod Sled Dog Race - http://tqjunior.thinkquest.org/3796/Index.htm
  Alaskan school children from Mountain View Elementary in Kenai, Alaska made this ThinkQuest Junior entry. While the text is a bit oversized, the activities and information are many and the use of JAVA and streaming video technologies make it a treat for other classes.
• Anchorage Daily News - http://www.adn.com/iditarod/
  The ADN is a great source of information on the race as it happens - even the Official Iditarod Website links to it. Here is an archive of last year's race, including lots of information of recent dominant musher Doug Swingley and plenty of material on other past races. It is sure to be updated as this year's race gets underway.
• Beyond Land's End - http://beyond.landsend.com/iditarod/prologue/
  The Land's End company features Bill Cotter, his family and his dogs as he races and prepares for his participation in the Last great Race - nice, personal insights. The section on preparing for the Iditarod contains great material including Bill's journals, and the online press kit can easily be adapted for creative uses in your classroom as an "Iditarod Central".
• Cabela's Iditarod Race Coverage - http://www.cabelasiditarod.com/
  Cabela's became a new major online contender for race information and updates last year. Cabela's is an outdoors outfitter that is now an official sponsor of the race. The site is a combination of free access to information and offers for all kinds of merchandise. If you can't find it at the official race site, look here!
• Dee Dee Jonrowe - http://www.eddiebauer.com/deedee/2001/deedee.asp
  Eddie Bauer is Dee Dee's proud sponsor and hosts this site dedicated to sharing her team's experience with fans online. This is perhaps not as in-depth a treatment as other musher sites, but it is well done and girls will love learning more about a female musher!
• Dog Mushing and Iditarod Coverage - http://dogsled.com/
  Dogsled.com has long been a first class home base for covering the Iditarod. They tend to bend a little more towards the human interest side of the race, so it's definitely designed for use with kids. It's so full of information it can be kind of busy as you scroll down the page, but it's 100% information with little or no filler!
• English Musher Max Hall - http://www.maxhall.com/
  For a completely novel point of view, check out Max Hall and his dogs as they travel across the pond to participate in the Iditarod Sled Dog Race each year. Then focus is on Max and his team, with data on past races and race history, as well.
• Gary Paulsen - http://www.scils.rutgers.edu/special/kay/paulsen.html
  This Paulsen page covers all his books, many of which have to do with dogs and sledding - never mind the fact that he's an awesome writer. N.B. Woodsong, Dogsong and Dogteam.
• Iditarod 411 - http://www.designperfect.com/iditarod/
  Jan Wong keeps current this great site for teachers on the Iditarod, including a template for planning your own iditarod unit. The literature extensions are great and the links to other people's resources are a help too.
• Iditarod 2000 Unit - http://www.alexandriacentral.org/iditarod.html
  A group of fifth graders at Cove Kid Elementary in Alexandria Bay, New York hosts this unit on the race that is easily adaptable to this year's event. Links include history, rules, the dogs and sled gear.
• Iditarod: The Last Great Race - http://www.education-world.com/a_lesson/lesson103.shtml
  This is an article I wrote for Education World back in 1999 that offers lots of curriculum connections for teachers wanting to make their room come alive this Winter celebrating this unique race.
• Iditarod: Race Across Alaska - http://teacher.scholastic.com/iditarod/home.htm
  Scholastic has put together this presentation on the Iditarod with help from veteran mushers Martin Buser and Mitch Seavey. The teacher's guide brings together Standards Correlations, Lesson Plans and Skill sheets to boot. You'll have to ignore the commercial pitches, but the content is fairly good.
• Joe Runyan's Iditarod Updates - http://www.joerunyan.com/ie_index.htm
  Joe loves working dogs, and he uses his site to tout the malamutes and the Iditarod with an array of resources suitable for classroom use. Especially noteworthy are the various articles and the photo album offered here for your class's consumption.
• Martin Buser and Happy Trails Kennels - http://www.buserdog.com/buserdog/
  Martin is one of the race's great veterans and this site allows you to follow his team as they prepare for the upcoming race. Happy Trails is the kennels where Martin and his wife Kathy Chapoton raise and care for their dogs. Martin has won the race three times and is the Iditarod Hall of Fame!
• Mrs. Morgan's Great Iditarod Adventure - http://www.chathamma.com/iditarod/
  Ann Morgan first posted this page this past year with all kinds of ideas for using the Iditarod in the classroom. She even had musher Jeff King conduct a telephone interview with her class prior to last year's race! You'll want to peruse her site before beginning your own Iditarod adventure!
• Official Student Information Guide- http://www.dced.state.ak.us/tourism/student.htm
  Presented by the state of Alaska, this site has everything your class will need to learn about state facts, economy, geography, boroughs, population, public lands, the pipeline, and so much more. I especially like the usefulness of sections on native peoples, the gold rush days, wildlife and the aurora borealis.
• Ramy Brooks - http://www.ramybrooks.com/
  Ramy is a regular in the Iditarod race and this page offers a personal glimpse at the man and his dogs. This page not only offers personal insights, but presents human interest stories you won't find anywhere else about the dogs. Consider "Who are the favorite dogs of the Iditarod?" and "How do the dogs get home from Nome?"
• A Rookie Gets Ready for the Iditarod - http://www.discovery.com/area/exploration/iditarod/iditarod.html
  Discovery Online presents the chronicle of Billy Snodgrass as he makes the journey from the lower 48 to his first run in the Iditarod. This is a classic story wonderfully formatted and full of high interest information for anyone who dreams of making it as an entry in the Last Great Race!
  
• Stephen R. Lee's Mushing Home Page - http://www.ooowoo.com/
  Here's coverage of the basics of mushing in simple, easy to understand format ! The Junior Mushers link is especially fascinating for teachers who would like to allow their students to immerse themselves in all it takes to become a musher on the trail. Check out the detailed directions on how to build your own dog sled - all from a musher who lives in New Mexico!
• Tilford on the Trail - http://www.vinton-shellsburg.k12.ia.us/tms/seventh/rdg7/iditarod/idit.html
  Judy Mitschelen brings together a great collection of information for anyone learning about the Iditarod Sled Dog Race. There's history, fascinating facts, and in-depth information. The musher's links need to be updated, but if Judy's true to form she'll have them updated before the race is close. Definitely worth a look!
  
• Vern Halter's Iditarod Update - http://208.248.72.89/halter/index.cfm
  Vern is a regular in the race, and this page allows you to follow his team exclusively during the upcoming race (it's not yet updated for the coming year's event). Check out the teacher's toolbox for lots of useful activities like Build a Dog Sled, the Iditarod Dance, a Word Search, Idita-Dogs, and a Crossword Puzzle, too!
• Wild-Eyed Alaska - http://www.hhmi.org/Alaska/
  This site is dedicated to the wild life of Alaska - beautiful pics, audio and video clips; a great Science extension for your Iditarod unit. Featured animals include Puffins, Gulls, Chicks and a variety of underwater animals.
• Women of the Iditarod - http://library.thinkquest.org/11313/Iditarod/index.html
  Susan Butcher, Libby Riddles, DeeDee Jonrowe and Mary Shields: four reasons for the saying "Alaska...where men are men and women win the Iditarod", and nicely presented here for students learning about the race and its storied traditions.
• Working Dog Web - http://www.workingdogweb.com/Iditarod.htm
  Lots of information here and some teacher links too. The nice child-friendly design makes it easy to incorporate into your class studies. Topics include Race History, the Iditarod Trail, Dogs & Mushers, News Media Coverage, Equipment & Strategy and Iditarod in the Classroom.
  

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The Innovative Teaching Newsletter will not b published over the winter holidays. The next issue will be January 6, 2002: Mysteries

Please send in URL's of high quality sites which may be of interest to our readers to walter@surfaquarium.com! Also, I'm always looking for new topic ideas and input!

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