Groundhog Day

Today is snow day number..., well, who's counting?!?  We might be in school all of June! Ha!! :) I have a few minutes to drink my coffee and type before my two munchkins wake up.... So here goes!!!

I am so excited to have finished up my Groundhog Day unit!!! I've always wanted to take a little different spin on it by learning about groundhogs, but books about groundhogs and not just Groundhog Day are so hard to find!!! This year I decided to create my own book and I also found Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons in my school library!  I should have known that I could always depend on good ole Gail!!! :) I mean, who doesn't just LOVE Gail Gibbons?

I've included quite a few options in this unit so that you can pick and choose to, hopefully, fit your needs. 

This is my plan....

We are going to start our groundhog unit by making these cute groundhog hats. My students always love making hats!! Groundhog day doesn't fall until Sunday, so we are going write our Groundhog Day predictions right on the hat. 

{Front View}

{Side View}

And...a page topper (If you aren't feeling the hats!!)

After we make our hats, we will probably have to use our "structures and functions" to MOVE like groundhogs! And, after we learn all about groundhogs we will become groundhogs yet again and I'm sure we will do a much better job!!

I have decided that I'm going to read Wake Up, Groundhog! by Susanna Leonard Hill. It's a super cute book about a groundhog named Phyllis who really wants to become the next Punxsutawney Phil.  I always feel that starting a unit with a fictional story really sparks some curiosity in my students. We are going to talk about the fact that the story is fiction, but they can also learn some real facts. 

We're going to complete some comprehension questions and this character trait sheet that can be found in the unit.  I also plan to have my students divide a sheet in their reading journal in half and title it fact and fiction.  They will list anything from the book that is a real fact about Groundhog Day (groundhogs live in burrows, Groundhog Day is on Feb. 2, etc.) and many of the fun fiction events that happened as well. 

The next day we are going to begin learning about groundhogs! We're going to read this PowerPoint book as a class!  I have been creating a TON of PowerPoint books because my students LOVE it!  I guess it's fun to have a different way to read a book!  I'm always looking for different ideas.  And, I'm not going to lie, it makes me really happy when they "ew" and "aw" when the slides appear and disappear on and off the screen.

These are the first three slides... 

After reading the book with the entire class and discussing some of the nonfiction text features included in the book (words in bold, photographs, etc.) We are going to break into our reading groups. Two of my guided reading groups will be reading this guided-reader that I created using the PowerPoint presentation. I am so excited to use this with my reading groups because my students will be able to take notes directly on the book, highlight vocabulary, write questions that they have, make inferences and connections, etc.  There will be no need to use post-it notes!!! :) I have a feeling that I will be creating more books like these in the future!!!

 The last two pages include comprehension questions.

My students will also be reading It's Groundhog Day! by Gail Gibbons and completing some comprehension questions, vocabulary, and word work in reading groups as well! 

{This is the first two pages in my Gail Gibbons comprehension packet.}

After we learn all about groundhogs we will be writing about them! At my school, we are trying to implement using a four square model for all grade levels.  We are hoping that it will help our students organize their ideas when writing on demand pieces.  Our students have gotten so use to our cute graphic organizers that they are having a hard time organizing their thoughts on their own when given an on demand prompt. So... four square it is for me!!

I have included 1 math station and 2 literacy stations in this unit as well! 

I'm going to use this time to the quarter hour sort with my entire class!  I'll probably print in black and white and give each child a copy of the clocks so that they can take the game home to play with their families!

All of my students will also complete this noun, verb, and adjective sort with a partner. Identifying nouns, verbs, and adjectives is still a bit of a struggles so I am hoping that once they complete this activity with the help of a friend they will be able to complete a cut and paste sort on their own!  Both are included in the unit!

Two of my guided reading groups are working on prefixes and suffixes, so I created this game for them!

And last but not least, we will be completing all of these language arts printables as a review!  I always seem to use a ton of cut and paste tables!! My kiddos love it! I think I have a sort saved on my computer for just about everything... ha! I usually just have my students complete the sort in their reading journals!

And last but not least, we will be completing these two Groundhog Math sheets.  I love it when my students have to really think about the problem and create a way to find the solution.

And there you have it!! My groundhog day(s) of FUN!!! :) If you are interested you can find it in my TPT store by clicking HERE!!

Have a great day!