A Journey with BALTO!

Friends~You all know that when I "DO" a book- we never just read it.  Sometimes I am even known to get a bit out of control when it comes to bringing a story to life for my students.  Well, I'm back at it!  In February, room 331 will be embarking on The Great Serum Race!  The story of the bravest dog ever Balto!

Now when my Lily was little the Disney version of Balto was one of her very favorites.  We even had it on VHS.  Now we have moved to DVD and we still watch it.  I stumbled across the book The Bravest Dog Ever: The True Story of Balto.  Click the image below to order:)

  

I knew that this story was going to be the backbone for my winter lessons in February!  The story of Balto actually took place in the month of January but the Iditarod Race will be run in March this year so February was the perfect month to introduce it.  

I worked to align my lessons with the CCSS  RIT 2.3

General: Describe the connection between a series of historical events, scientific ideas or concepts, or steps in technical procedures in a text.

Now I am still growing this unit but I had to show you what I am up to so far!

First, this summer I found these dog tags at Walmart.  I picked them up with no plan in mind and now they are going to fit perfectly when we reenact the Iditarod as a grade level.  We are planning to have our classes go through the same towns that Balto did with parent volunteers as mushers.  The kiddos will of course be the sled dogs.  (MORE ON THIS LATER)

I also ordered a class set of the Balto Books for my kiddos to use. I can't wait to see them sprawled all over the room gobbling up this story!

We also got our Bulletin Board ready too!  So far we have only added a drawing of the state of Alaska and mapped the Iditarod.  As we learn facts about the journey we will be adding to this board.

Here are some other books that I  will be using to lead the students through the journey.  The chapter book I plan to use as a read aloud!

I also found in the Scholastic Arrow Book order this month the book: 

A grabbed a set of 6 with bonus points for guided reading groups.  

Scholastic also has an awesome section to explore with your class on the Iditarod. 

 Check it out by clicking the image below! 

Don't miss this video of how my students will experience life as a sled dog while listening to commands from a musher! 

You can download a FREE copy of my Sled Dogs by clicking the image below!

If you are looking for something new for these up and coming winter months check out more of  of my Balto fun by clicking the image below and then downloading the preview file.  

You will get a video preview of all of my activities!

I am so excited to continue to grow this this story!  Stay tuned for more BALTO FUN!