Date: Fri, 14 Mar 1997 09:41:29 -0600 (CST)
From: sheila dean ashbrook <sashbroo@students.uiuc.edu>
To: satex@mail.ed.uiuc.edu
Subject: Project description


Name: Iditarod 1-3 Curriculum Exchange and Interaction Project (1998)

Description: There are several web sites related to the Alaskan Iditarod Dog
Sled Race, which is run each year in early March. There are also many books,
videos, learning activities, etc., which are used by classroom teachers who
involve their classrooms in following the race. However, there does not appear
to be any cohesive curriculum or unit outline available for grades 1-3, nor
are there any project postings for classroom interactions via WWW.

For this project, we (I'm working with a second grade teacher) will invite
1st-3rd grade teachers to participate in an Iditarod curriculum development
project by submitting suggestions for books, activities, etc., which they have used in conjunction with past Iditarod races. We will add these to our own
ideas and write a comprehensive curriculum guide for grades 1-3 which will
include: potential learning objectives; related educational activities; a
reference list of books, videos, and other available teaching materials; and
a listing and description of Iditarod websites. We plan to include activities 
which will directly involve students in accesssing information on WWW. When
completed, the curriculum guide will be posted on the web via the home page
of Westview school.

A second aspect of the project will involve compiling a list of teachers who
would be interested in participating, in 1998, in web-based Iditarod-related
activities which involve interaction with other classrooms. One of the
Iditarod sites has a bulletin board which could be used for interaction, or
students could simply communicate via e-mail. We would compile a list of
teachers and possible interactive activities, and also post these on the 
Westview homepage.

Teachers who submit ideas or express interest in classroom interactions would
be notified when the curriculum is posted and given the URL for accessing
the site.

Project Dates: April 1-April 23

Educational/Learning Objectives: The objectives of the current project are
to develop an Iditarod curriculum for grades 1-3 and establish a participant
list for interaction between classrooms. The learning objectives for the
curriculum are expected to relate to 3 areas: facilitation of learning in
several subject matter areas (science, math, social studies, reading) through
the use of a high-interest interdisciplinary topic; increasing student 
awareness of the uses of WWW as a learning tool; and engaging students in
critical thinking about human endeavors related to competition, challenges,
etc.

Posting: Global Schoolnet, Iditarod site bulletin board

Sheila Ashbrook, 3/14/97