"The Pumpkin Runner" by Marsha Diane Arnold
"Akiak" by Robert J. Blake
Read Aloud Book Summary
- Tales of a Fourth Grade Nothing by Judy Blume
"Grandfather's Journey" by Allen Say
- Favorite Photograph - why is it so?
"Finding the Titantic" by Robert D. Ballard
"By the Shores of Silver Lake" by Laura Ingalls Wilder
- "If You're Not From Ventura..." (modeled on "If you're not from the prairie..." by Bouchard)
SPELLING
Akiak Spelling Words
Journeys Reading-Writing Workshop Spelling WordsGrandfather's Journey Spelling Words
Finding the Titanic Spelling Words
By the Shores of the Silver Lake Spelling Words
Journeys Spelling Review
Ticket to Ride
Take a (mental) trip to anywhere.Travel Log
Re-create a past trip with memories and mementos.
LINKS
All
About the Iditarod and Alaska
The following sites offer in-depth, story-behind-the-story information
on the "Last Great Race on Earth," a comprehensive look at
Alaska's vast natural resources, and fun and challenging activities
to share with your class.
Official Iditarod Site
The place to go for information on the most recent Iditarod. (If you check in while the race is going on, you can get daily updates—almost as exciting as being there!) You'll find trail, map, and mileage data; race articles and history; links to mushers' Web sites; and an index of teacher and student activities, including a scavenger hunt and Teacher on the Trail, the diary of a teacher turned musher.The Iditarod Trail
A clickable map offers commentary on each section of trail and topographic details to show what mushers and their dogs face during each leg of the race. Articles on other trail challenges—including run-ins with buffalo and other large, immovable creatures—offer an insider, in-depth view of the Iditarod.Alaska Department of Fish and Game
The teacher resources section of this site offers information about Alaska's tundra and forests, birds, mammals, endangered species, conservation, and even what to do when you come face to face with an aggressive moose!
FURTHER READING
VERY EASY
Pioneer
Girl
by William Anderson
Harper 1998 (32p)
Anderson relates the life of the author of the Little House books.
Social Studies
Pigs
Ahoy
by David McPhail
Penguin 1995 (32p) also paper
Stowaway pigs wreak hilarious havoc on a cruise ship.
How
to Make an Apple Pie and See the World
by Marjorie Priceman
Dragonfly 1996 (32p)
A young girl travels the world for ingredients for an apple pie.
*The
Lost Lake
by Allen Say
Houghton 1989 (32p)
Luke and his father set off on a camping trip deep into the mountains.
Multicultural
Oregon's
Journey
by Louis Joos Rascal
BridgeWater 1994 (40p)
Duke, a clown, helps Oregon, a circus bear, get from Pittsburgh back
to the woods of Oregon.
EASY
The
Way Home
by Nan Parson Rossiter
Dutton 1990 (32p)
A boy and his father rescue an injured Canada goose.
Tea
With Milk
by Allen Say
Houghton 1999 (32p)
Born and raised in the United States, Masako is unhappy when she moves
to Japan.
Multicultural
*Train
to Somewhere
by Eve Bunting
Clarion 1996 (32p)
Marianne travels west on an Orphan Train hoping to meet her mother.
Stringbean's
Trip to the Shining Sea
by Vera B. Williams
Scholastic 1998 (48p) also paper
Stringbean Coe describes his trip to the West Coast with his big brother,
Fred, and their dog, Potato.
Classic
True
Heart
by Marissa Moss
Harcourt 1999 (32p)
Bee, who works as a freight loader on the Union Pacific Railroad, finally
gets a chance to drive the True Heart.
The
Return of Freddy LeGrand
by Jon Agee
Farrar 1992 (32p) also paper
Freddy LeGrand runs out of gas on his transatlantic flight and arrives
in Paris on a bicycle.
ON LEVEL
Dashing
Through the Snow: The Story of the Jr. Iditarod
by Sherry Shahan
Millbrook 1997 (48p)
The Junior Iditarod is an annual dogsled race held in Alaska for young
people.
Rachel
Field's Hitty: Her First Hundred Years
adapted by Rosemary Wells
Simon 1999 (112p)
In this adaptation of the 1930 Newbery winner, the doll Hitty recalls
her adventures.
Classic
Peacebound
Trains
by Haemi Balgassi
Clarion 1996 (32p)
During the Korean War, Sumi anxiously waits at the train station for
the return of his mother, a soldier.
Multicultural
On
the Frontier with Mr. Audubon
by Barbara Brenner
Boyds Mills 1997 (96p)
Thirteen-year-old Joseph Mason joins John James Audubon on a trip to
record America's birds.
Social Studies
Stone
Fox
by John Reynolds Gardiner
Harper 1980 (96p)
Willy must race against the legendary Stone Fox.
Classic
Racing
a Ghost Ship: The Incredible Journey of Great American II
by Rich Wilson
Walker 1996 (48p)
Wilson sails from San Francisco around Cape Horn to Boston.
My
Name Is Not Gussie
by Mikki Machlin
Houghton 1999 (32p)
Grandmother Gussie relates her youthful experiences journeying with
her family from Russia to America in the early 1900s.
Searching
for Laura Ingalls Wilder: A Reader's Journey
By Kathryn Lasky
Aladdin 1998 (48p)
Meribah goes to see some of the places Wilder wrote about.
Little
House in the Big Woods
by Laura Ingalls Wilder
Harper 1953 (238p) also paper
Laura and her family spend a winter deep in the Wisconsin woods.
Classic
CHALLENGE
Longwalker's
Journey
by Beatrice O. Harrell
Dial 1999 (144p)
A Choctaw family is forced to leave its Mississippi home for Indian
territory.
Multicultural
A
Titanic Journey Across the Sea 1912
By Laurie Lawlor
Mistrel 1999 (202p)
Two young sisters leave Sweden for America on board the Titanic.
Dominic
by William Steig
Farrar 1972 (146p) also paper
Dominic sets off on a journey in search of whatever he may find.
Stagecoach:
The Ride of a Century
by A. Richard Mansir
Charlesbridge 1999 (32p)
The history of the stagecoach is recounted through historical documents,
maps, and journal entries.
