OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 1 © On The Mark Press

A Groundhog Celebration

Grade 2

Published in Canada by:

On The Mark Press

15 Dairy Avenue

Napanee, Ontario

K7R 1M4

www.onthemarkpress.com

About this book:This delightful occasion can be the source of fun and excitement for your students

as well as a basis for learning a wide range of critical skills in literacy, math, and science.The teacher guide will provide you with background information on the origins

of this holiday to share with your students.

Students are invited to explore groundhogs, shadows, and the weather.The highly visual activities are student friendly, and the original stories

complete with pictures to color will delight them.

Copyright © 2000 Revised February 2011

This publication may be reproduced under licence from Access Copyright, or with the express written permission of

On The Mark Press / S&S Learning Materials, or as permitted by law.

All rights are otherwise reserved, and no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, scanning, recording or otherwise, except as specifically

authorized. “We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada through the Book Publishing Industry

Development Program (BPIDP) for this project.”

All Rights Reserved

Printed in Canada

About the author:Ruth Solski was an educator for 30 years. She has written many educational resourcesand is the founder of S&S Learning Materials, now On The Mark Press. As a writer,her main goal is to provide teachers with a useful tool that they can implement intheir classrooms to bring the joy of learning to children.

Written by Ruth Solski

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 2 © On The Mark Press

OTHER HOLIDAY UNITS

Item # Title Grade

OTM-325 Groundhog Day ........................................... 1

OTM-326 A Groundhog Celebration ........................... 2

OTM-343 It's Groundhog Day ..................................... 3

OTM-315 Be My Valentine .......................................... 1

OTM-316 Bouquet of Valentines ................................. 2

OTM-342 Happy Valentine's Day ................................ 3

OTM-314 Valentine's Day ......................................... 4-6

OTM-308 Halloween Happiness .................................. 1

OTM-340 It's Trick or Treat Time .............................. 2

OTM-309 A Haunting Halloween ............................... 3

OTM-310 Halloween................................................. 4-6

OTM-304 Christmas Magic ......................................... 1

OTM-305 Joy of Christmas ......................................... 2

OTM-341 It's Christmas Time ..................................... 3

OTM-339 Celebrate Christmas ................................ 4-6

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 3 © On The Mark Press

Table of Contents

Objectives .................................................................................................................... 4

List of Resources ........................................................................................................... 4

List of Vocabulary ........................................................................................................ 4

Information on Groundhogs ..................................................................................... 5

Information on the Legend of Groundhog Day .................................................... 5

Information on the Legend of Wiarton Willie (A Canadian Groundhog) .......... 6

Information on Wiarton’s Groundhog Day Festival ............................................... 7

Information on Punxsutawney Phil (An American Groundhog).......................... 7

Information on Shadows .......................................................................................... 14

Teacher Input Suggestions ....................................................................................... 15

Poetry and Songs ...................................................................................................... 21

List of Skills ................................................................................................................... 24

Teacher Evaluation Sheet ........................................................................................ 25

Student Activity Tracking Sheet ............................................................................... 26

Phonics Activities ....................................................................................................... 27

Word Study Activities................................................................................................. 30

Reading Activities ..................................................................................................... 34

Brainstorming Activities ............................................................................................ 49

Creative Writing Activities ........................................................................................ 50

Printing Activities ....................................................................................................... 52

Mathematics Activities ............................................................................................. 53

Gloria Groundhog Cut Outs.................................................................................... 57

Snip Art ........................................................................................................................ 61

Reproducible Blank Activity Card .......................................................................... 62

Answer Key ................................................................................................................. 63

A GROUNDHOG

CELEBRATION

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 4 © On The Mark Press

Objectives

1. To provide students with the opportunity to study the mammal - The Groundhog.

2. To provide students with the opportunity to explore legends and to understand their

meanings.

3. To acquaint students with superstitions and how they are handed down from generation

to generation.

4. To have the students study shadows and experiment with them.

5. To provide students with the opportunity to learn about Groundhog Day or Candlemas

Day and how it is celebrated in North America.

List of Resources

1. Ashman, Cherrie Dee. Carved in Stone, The Legend of Willie. Alea Design and Print,

Mayne Island, B.C.; ©1996. This book is available from the following address. It costs $8.50

plus shipping and handling. Carved in Stone - Groundhog Central, P. O. Box 310, 315

George Street, Wiarton, Ontario, Canada, NOH 2T0.

2. Wiarton Willie’s Website: www.wiarton-willie.org. At this website on the internet is

information pertaining to Wiarton Willie’s History; Wiarton’s Groundhog Day Parade and

Celebrations; Weather Information and Information on the Bruce Peninsula and its many

activities. Note: Websites often change.

3. Punxsutawney Phil’s Story-Internet Website: http://www.punxsutawney.com.

At this website is information on Punxsutawney Phil, a groundhog found in Pennsylvania, in

the United States. It contains information pertaining to Indian Lore; Candlemas Day;

Founders of Groundhog Day Traditions. Note: Websites often change.

4. Crockett, Johnson. Will Spring Be Early or Will Spring Be Late?. Harper Publishing.

List of Vocabulary

albino, alfalfa, burrow, brownish, blackish, Candlemas Day, cloudy, celebrations, celebrate, den,

dig, entrance, eyes, farmer, field, fur, February, garden, groundhog, Groundhog Day, hole,

hibernate, legend, leaves, mammal, mouth, nose, paws, pest, parade, Punxsutawney Phil, pink,

rainy, red clover, roots, sleeps, small, snowy, spring, shadow, springtime, sunny, sunshine, tail, tunnel,

underground, vegetables, vegetarian, Wiarton Willie, white, wintertime, whiskers

A GROUNDHOG

CELEBRATION

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 27 © On The Mark Press

Gloria Groundhog’s Sounds 1

The “Gr” Sound

Groundhog begins with the blend “gr.”

Circle all the words in the word puzzle thatbegin with “gr.” There are fourteen wordsin the puzzle.

s f k j y k v q r j u r n t i r h b z b e k u x v y

i j g r a p e s o c q e n c k g b g r a i n g j z w

c gm y k i j p w u f n a l s h q f i u c j c t k a

p q s i r z v p g i o n d o h l a y f a r o s k d c

o b h b m l h f x g r a s s f g h t x s v d h p q l

d j i t k c n m n q t y o k j m i q z o y n c e l e

wh g r i n o u l o m p m h l p gm i z f n x m dm

u a b d q x k d qw r n z p g g r e e n f t w l mb

x g z r a e f l v r p o l j e q o h a g n w a g b d

s v s e y c p b em r n p s o f t e j b q v z u w y

v r g r a n d m o t h e r o x p p y r k i o u x m k

u g i t h u e r w s f q k j m e h c r l g r e y v z

p g r u mp y d e o k g i h i s d j o s b t d v a j

q b f d w t m s l h t s j r t n q d x s g j i e a i

t v b e g u b f e q g r o u n d o n d f h t e u h f

wc c u d x i v s g b s n c z u l b e n g o k w x p

d x w a d c f r w f a h h o p r p k y g g r o w f w

e g r a d e t w d x d g p t y a v o i o m t y a d b

w f w v h e c g a u z i y r q w f z q m g c u l v c

v y b x g q u b k j c f t g r i n d u q n j p n z i

r g r e e d y v d s v y j s i x b r e s h j t v k u

x a z x o z h y p a i k z g r a n d f a t h e r m y

p q y n z y s a z x o b e m c n c i d m l k x z l w

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 28 © On The Mark Press

1. tail __________________________

2. dig __________________________

3. hole __________________________

4. pest __________________________

5. legend __________________________

6. spring __________________________

7. shadow __________________________

8. sun __________________________

9. whiskers __________________________

10.sleep __________________________

Gloria Groundhog’s Sounds 2

Listening for Vowels

Which vowel sound do you hear in eachword.

e.g. den - short e

Beside each word below print the vowelsound that you hear in each word.

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 29 © On The Mark Press

Gloria Groundhog’s Sounds 3

Can you find the “sh” word?

The word shadow begins with the “sh”

sound.

Match the words in the groundhog’stunnel to the pictures correctly.

1.

_____________

3.

_____________

5.

_____________

7.

_____________

shovel

shark

shirt

shell

sheep

shield

ship

shoe

2.

_____________

4.

_____________

6.

_____________

8.

_____________

OTM-326 ISBN: 9781770781955 30 © On The Mark Press

Gloria Groundhog’s Words 1

Putting Words in Order

Gloria is a tidy groundhog.

Help her put the groundhog words inalphabetical order.

A) B)

C) D)

E) F)

___ celebrate___ brown___ fur

___ nose___ mouth___ pest

___ paws___ whiskers___ eyes

___ shadow___ clover___ burrow

___ field___ tunnel___ vegetables

___ legend___ garden___ cloudy