Groundhog Day Activities Grade 1 Curriculum Map

Everything you need to celebrate Groundhog Day. Designed to spark curiosity and build essential literacy, math, and science skills, this 61‑page unit turns February 2nd into a meaningful learning experience your students will remember.

This comprehensive Groundhog Day resource includes 24 ready‑to‑use activities, a detailed teacher guide, and rich background information to help young learners explore groundhogs, shadows, weather, legends, and traditions connected to this North American celebration.

🎯 Learning Objectives

This Groundhog Day unit helps students:

• Explore and understand the mammal groundhog
• Learn about legends, superstitions, and how traditions are passed down
• Study shadows and experiment with light
• Discover how Groundhog Day / Candlemas Day is celebrated across North America
• Build foundational literacy, math, and science skills through themed activities

Introduction & Teacher Guide 

Teacher Notes:

• Objectives
• List of Resources
• List of Vocabulary

Teacher Information:

• Information on Groundhogs
• Information on the Legend of Groundhog Day
• Information on the Legend of Wiarton Willie
• Information on Wiarton’s Groundhog Day Festival
• Information on Punxsutawney Phil (A United States Groundhog)

Information on Shadows & Science Ideas

Teacher Input Suggestions

Poetry and Song

List of Skills

Student Activity Tracking Sheet

📚 Skills Covered (Perfect for Grade 1 Standards)

🔡 Phonics Worksheets

• Initial consonant Ww
• Blend Gr
• Digraph Sh
• P sound

✏️ Word Study Activities

• Compound words
• Word/picture match
• Make words with puzzle pieces

📖 Reading

• Completing sentences – endings
• Writing good sentences
• Ordering words to form sentences
• Writing beginnings
• Mr. Groundhog storybook. – Colour and complete the story

✍️ Printing

• Copying Groundhog Day vocabulary
• Copying a poem

 🔬 Science

• Animals that live in burrows
• Weather calendar for February
• Groundhog shape book
• Animals that hibernate

✍️ Creative Writing

• Story writing with given words
• Choosing a title and writing a story

🧠 Matching

• Matching shapes to shadows
• Matching animals to their homes

➕ Mathematics

• Counting by 1s
• Addition to 10
• Subtraction to 10
• Telling time (o’clock)

✂️Art Activities

• Paper Bag Puppet – Groundhog
• Groundhog Puppet Family

Start saving TIME today!

We give you 100's of NO PREP! lessons to download so you can do what you love! TEACH! 

Take the leap and join today!