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GENERAL ENGLISH · SPECIAL REPORT · PRE-INTERMEDIATE (A2-B1)

THE GREAT
GROUNDHOG

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1 Warm up

In pairs, discuss the following questions.

1. Do you like animals? Are you a fan of big ones or small ones?
2. When was the last time you visited a forest? Did you see any animals there?
3. What is your favourite season? Why do you like that one?
4. Do you think it is possible to predict when winter is going to end?

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

2 Visual guide

Look at the images related to groundhogs. Match the names to the correct pictures.

acorn bobcat bugs burrow

great horned owl rodent squirrel weasel

1. 2. 3. 4.

5. 6. 7. 8.

Answer the following questions.

1. Which of the animals above do you like the most? Why?

2. Do you know any interesting facts about these animals?
3. Do you like bugs? Why do you think so many people hate them?
4. Do you know any food that can be made out of acorns? What’s your favourite type of nut?

3 Focus on vocabulary 1

You are going to listen to or watch a short video about the groundhog. Before you listen, match the
words to the definitions below.

1. habitat (n) a. animals that kill and eat other animals

2. meadows (n) b. mainly, essentially

3. spot (v) c. animals that only eat plants

4. primarily (adv.) d. a place where a particular animal is usually found

5. herbivores (n) e. fields covered in grass

6. predators (n) f. in danger, at risk of something bad happening

7. threatened (adj.) g. see or notice something, usually suddenly

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4 Listening for details

Audio Listen to or watch a short video about the groundhog and answer these questions.

1. Which continent do groundhogs come from originally?

2. Where can you see populations of groundhogs?

Video
3. What is a groundhog’s usual diet?

4. What are two other names for the groundhog?

5. How much time do groundhogs spend underground?

5 Practical English

Look at the expressions from the audio. With your partner, guess the meaning of each one from the
context. Then, to help you remember the expressions, have a chat with your partner, and use them
to talk about your life.

• "You probably think of a mouse, a rat or a lovely squirrel nibbling on a little acorn..."
• "... if they come across some bugs while eating their leaves, they will gobble them down..."

1. What is your favourite snack to nibble on?

2. When you are really hungry, what kind of food do you like to gobble down?

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6 Focus on vocabulary 2

Part A: Match the words and phrases in bold to their correct definitions.

1. The restaurant was praised by local food experts.

2. My dad’s outlook was always a little bit negative.

3. I was looking out of my window last night and I saw a badger eating out of the bin.

4. I asked my mum if I could get a pet hedgehog, but she told me a hamster would be safer.

5. The original church roof was well preserved.

6. He gave his interview to a journalist from the press.

7. They were predicting a period of prolonged rain this spring.

8. Due to the cute little buildings, it really is one of the most charming villages in the country.

a. (adj.) continuing for a long time

b. (n) a small animal with needles (spines) on its back that rolls into a ball when it is attacked.

c. (v) made sure that something was kept

d. (v) say that you admired somebody/something

e. (n) large black and white animal, that sleeps during the day and lives in a burrow

f. (adj.) very pleasant and attractive

g. (n) the newspapers or radio and television news broadcasting

h. (n) attitude to life of a particular person or group

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Part B: Put the words from above into the conversation questions below and then discuss them with
your partner. The form of the word might need to be changed.

1. Do you like big scary animals or little cute ones like ?

2. Would you prefer to go to a big, busy city or a , little town?

3. Were you more by your mum or your dad?

4. Would you like to work as a reporter in the or on TV?

5. What old building in your country would you like to see ?

7 Skimming for general understanding

Read the following paragraph titles for the article on page six and match them to the correct paragraph.
Two titles are not needed.

1. Follow the leader

2. Groundhog sandwich
3. Usually longer winters
4. A popular movie
5. German predictions
6. European similarities
7. Newspaper stories
8. The birth of Groundhog Day
9. Groundhog versus beaver

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

The day of the groundhog

The story behind an American tradition

A. In 1993, the film Groundhog Day was released and was extremely popular. The movie was
praised for its positive outlook and while it made everyone who watched it laugh, it also brought attention to one
of the most charming and longest-running traditions in the USA.

B. It is thought that the ceremony began in Germany in the 16th century and was used to predict
when winter would end. The Germans would pick a wild creature from a selection which included badgers and
hedgehogs and if the sun was bright enough to be able to see the animals shadow it meant there would be 40
more days of winter. However, if the animal couldn’t see its shadow, it would mean that winter was going to end
soon.

C. In the 18th century a few hundred people from Germany followed Jakob Ammann, a Swiss
religious leader and settled in Pennsylvania. Over the years the people who lived there preserved many cultural
beliefs from Europe and became a group who are known as the Pennsylvania Dutch or the Pennsylvania Germans.

D. The Pennsylvania Dutch were and are very proud of where they come from. They want to
celebrate and honour a number of their old traditions and that is how Grundsaudaag was born.

E. Grundsaudaag was similar to their old spring predicting ceremony from Europe, but it had to
involve an animal which wasn’t native to Germany and that is how the groundhog got its chance.

F. Groundhog Day is now linked to the attractive little town of Punxsutawney in Pennsylvania.
The importance of this town in relation to Groundhog Day is because it was written about in 1886 when a local
newspaper printed a story about the event that included the line "up to the time of going to press, the beast has
not seen its shadow".

G. These days the pressure of predicting an early spring is down to only one groundhog-
Punxsutawney Phil. Every year on the 2nd of February, Phil emerges to an audience of hundreds all hoping to
hear that winter is coming to an end soon. Unfortunately, records show that over the years the groundhog has
seen his shadow 107 times and not seen his shadow 20 times, meaning that winter has been prolonged a lot more
than it has been shortened.

sources: wikipedia.org, bbc.com, pressherald.com, usatoday.com, thenewstribune.com

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8 Reading for comprehension

Read the following statements and decide if they are true (T) or false (F).

1. Groundhog Day was a funny movie.

2. If they could see the animal’s shadow, it meant spring was coming earlier.

3. Less than 1000 people came with Jakob Ammann to the USA.

4. The Pennsylvania Dutch don’t care about where they originally come from.

5. They chose to use a groundhog because there had been lots of them in Germany.

6. Punxsutawney is an important place in relation to groundhogs.

7. Phil’s prediction happens in the first half of the year.

8. In Punxsutawney, the groundhog usually doesn’t see its shadow.

9 Talking point

Look at the questions below and discuss them with your partner.

1. What did you think of the article? What was the most interesting thing?
2. Do you think it is possible for a groundhog to predict the end of winter?
3. Why do you think it was important for the Pennsylvania Dutch to remember their traditions from
Europe?
4. Are there any traditions involving animals in your country? Can you describe them?

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

Transcripts

4. Listening for details

Speaker: A quick guide to the groundhog

Speaker: When you think of the word rodent, I am guessing that the groundhog is not the first animal
to pop into your mind. You probably think of a mouse, a rat or a lovely squirrel nibbling on
a little acorn, but please don’t forget about the groundhog as it is a fascinating creature in
its own right.

Speaker: Fully grown groundhogs weigh about 6kg, stretch to around 50cm, and have a 17cm tail
to add on to that. Native to North America, the groundhog is most commonly found in the
eastern part of the USA and throughout Canada preferring a habitat of meadows and open
fields. If you are looking to spot one, then you can see some populations dotted around
the edges of forests.

Speaker: In terms of diet, groundhogs are primarily vegetarians, or to give them the technical
name, herbivores and they live on a diet of grasses and flowers. However, if they come
across some bugs while eating their leaves, they will gobble them down as an extra treat.
Unfortunately for the groundhog there are also several predators that want to eat it for
their own dinner, these include coyotes, bobcats, weasels and great horned owls.

Speaker: Quite interestingly the groundhogs go by many other names including- woodchucks and
whistle-pigs, the whistle coming from the fact that they emit a high-pitched noise when
they feel threatened. They spend around 80% of their lives underground in their burrows
which upon discovery have been revealed to be quite complex structures. The burrows
can often be as long as 13 metres and luckily for privacy’s sake they also come with their
own separate bathrooms.

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

Key

1. Warm up

5 mins.
This gives the teacher an opportunity to set the context and allows the students time to share their previous
knowledge and their opinions in related to animals and the seasons. Monitor and provide on-the-spot feedback
when appropriate.

2. Visual guide

10 mins.
This stage provides students with images related to the groundhog listening. Ask the students to match the words
to the pictures and then have them discuss the questions below.

1. burrow 2. great horned owl 3. weasel 4. bobcat

5. bugs 6. acorn 7. squirrel 8. rodent

3. Focus on vocabulary 1

5 mins.
Ensure students can correctly pronounce the target vocabulary. Ask them to complete the task by themselves
first, and then compare answers with a partner.

1. → d. 2. → e. 3. → g. 4. → b.
5. → c. 6. → a. 7. → f.

4. Listening for details

5 mins.
Tell students to read through the questions, watch or listen to the audio and then answer the questions. Afterwards,
they should compare their answers with their partners.

1. "...Native to North America..."

2. "...then you can see some populations dotted around the edges of forests..."
3. "... they live on a diet of grasses and flowers..."
4. "...many other names including- woodchucks and whistle-pigs..."
5. "...They spend around 80% of their lives underground..."
Audio sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog
https://kids.nationalgeographic.com/animals/mammals/facts/groundhog
https://www.pbs.org/wnet/nature/blog/groundhogs-facts
https://now.tufts.edu/2019/01/28/five-things-you-didnt-know-about-groundhogs
https://animalia.bio/groundhog
https://www.havahart.com/groundhog-facts
https://donnallong.com/fascinating-groundhog-facts

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

5. Practical English

5 mins.
Ask students to look through the sentences together and try to guess the meaning, monitor to support and then
allow them to personalise the vocabulary with a quick discussion.
nibbling on - taking small bites of something
gobble them down – eat quickly with a lot of noise

6. Focus on vocabulary 2

Part A
5 mins.
Make sure students can correctly pronounce the target vocabulary. Ask them to complete the task by themselves
first, and then compare answers with a partner.

1. → d. 2. → h. 3. → e. 4. → b.
5. → c. 6. → g. 7. → a. 8. → f.
Part B
5 mins.
Students match the words from above to the questions and then they use them to have a conversation with each
other.

1. hedgehogs 2. charming
3. praised 4. press
5. preserved

7. Skimming for general understanding

5 mins.
You may want to set a time limit and highlight the differences between skimming and scanning at this point.
Students read the paragraph titles for the article on page six and match them to the correct paragraph. Note that
two titles are not needed (Groundhog sandwich and Groundhog versus beaver).

A. A popular movie B. German predictions

C. Follow the leader D. The birth of Groundhog Day
E. European similarities F. Newspaper stories
G. Usually longer winters
Article sources:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day_(film)
https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20240131-how-the-pennsylvania-dutch-created-groundhog-day
https://www.pressherald.com/2024/02/07/intertidal-the-history-of-groundhog-day-and-a-modern-take
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Groundhog_Day
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jakob_Ammann
https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/nation/2024/02/02/groundhog-day-2024-shadow-results/72409638007/’

https://www.thenewstribune.com/news/weather-news/article285101802.html

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THE GREAT GROUNDHOG

8. Reading for comprehension

5 mins.
Students read the statements and decide if they are true (T) or false (F). Ask students to read in more detail and
complete the exercise. Ask them to underline where they find the answer, and then compare with their partner.

1. True. "...made everyone who watched it laugh..."

2. False. "...be able to see the animal’s shadow it meant there would be 40 more days of winter..."
3. True. "...a few hundred people from Germany followed Jakob Ammann..."
4. False. "...are very proud of where they come from ..."
5. False. "...to involve an animal which wasn’t native to Germany..."
6. True. "...The importance of this town in relation to Groundhog Day..."
7. True. "...Every year on the 2nd of February Phil emerges to an audience ..."
8. False. "...seen his shadow 107 times and not seen his shadow 20 times..."

9. Talking point

5 mins.
Students discuss talking points from the article and share their opinions. Perform both content feedback and error
correction afterwards.

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