5 Minutes - Warm - Up. For a couple of minutes, allow the students to write or think of as many words as possible taken from the letters inside of GROUNDHOG. For example: ground, hog, dog, etc. Write some student examples on the board.
5 - 10 minutes - Powerpoint presentation. When is groundhog day? Some key words and pictures (groundhog, burrow, shadow, weather forecast). You can also give your students a minute to pair up and practice the tongue twister: "How much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood?" Who is Punxsutawney Phil? Who are the inner circle?
25 - 30 minutes: In pairs, students will create a short story about Punxsutawney Phil. They will also draw a picture depicting their story.
Remaining time: Students will gather into larger groups with other pairs. They will read their story and then explain their pictures.
Cute lesson idea! l will teach my students about this beaver day next year :)
You need to put some respect on Punxsutawney Phil's name. There are some VERY noticeable differences between a GROUNDhog/ WOODchuck (which literally have land-synonymous words in its name) on a beaver, which lives primarily near WATER.