Learn more about the animal behind the legends.
Learning Objective: Students will read fiction about friends who save Groundhog Day. This pairs with a nonfiction text about real groundhogs.
Luc Pouliot/Alamy Stock Photo(Groundhog); Shutterstock.com (Flower)
The story you just read is fiction, but groundhogs are real! Wild groundhogs live in underground homes called burrows. In the winter, groundhogs go into a deep sleep in their burrows. This is called hibernation. In the spring, they wake up. They leave their burrows.
Groundhog Day Legend
Over the years, people have passed down an old story about groundhogs. It says that groundhogs come out of their burrows on Groundhog Day. If they see their shadows, there will be six more weeks of winter. If not, spring will come soon!
Weather scientists say this is not true. But people celebrate Groundhog Day anyway. There is a big party in the town of Punxsatawney, Pennsylvania. The town has a groundhog named Punxsatawney Phil. People from all over come to see him.
Punxsatawney Phil is not wild. He lives in a zoo that is part of a park. Other towns have their own pet groundhogs too!
Chris Hondros/Getty Images
Punxsatawney Phil on Groundhog Day, February 2
About the Story
Science focus
Animal adaptations
The Shortcut and The Truth About Groundhogs
Implementation
Pairings and Text Connections
Before-Reading Resources
Suggested Reading Focus
Fiction and nonfiction (2 class sessions)
After-Reading: Skills Practice
(15 minutes for each activity)
After-Reading Text Comparisons
(15 minutes)
