Virtual Visit to the Alaskan Iditarod
I chose Anna Berrington for my musher to follow because I liked her. She started mushing when she was nine years old. She is so excited about being able to raise dogs and train dogs because she always wanted to.
I read Balto. There are a bunch of main characters in this true story. Three of the main characters are Balto, Togo, and the musher. Balto is a dog, and he can run really fast. Togo is a dog helping the sick people too. Sepphala is the musher that leads all the dogs during part of the rescue race with the serum.
They had to send the medicine to the doctor because people had a sickness that made some die. When the terrible sickness came, they had to choose mushers to bring the medicine to the doctor because it was too cold and windy to use the planes or the boats to get there. The most exciting part was when you wondered if they were going to get there. I liked when they got to the place safely. I liked this book so much.
Some examples of excellent writing in Balto were how it said Kimball “leaped into action.” He did it with enthusiasm, and those were interesting words. I liked the words, “The blowing snow painted everything white.” It describes it so you can see what it looked like in your head.
I made a list of some Iditarod words to use in my writing. My verbs are running, riding, sniffing, resting, turning, talking, yipping, sledding, wagging, and turning.
I compared mushing to a sport I like, horseback riding. Mushing is different because you have a dog, ride a sled, and do it outdoors. Horseback riding is different because you have a horse, ride a horse, do it in the riding arena, and ride on the animal. They are both alike because they are both riding, people go on both, they are both fun, and the people wear special gear on their feet.
I learned a lot about sled dogs. Moose can attack them, so the mushers might have to use a gun to keep their dogs safe. They try to scare the moose away first though. The dogs work hard to pull the musher and the sled. The dogs are so fast and strong.
You shared so many interesting and specific facts and vocabulary about mushing. Thank you! I learned so much from your writing!