Groundhog Day
Lesson plan overview
This ESL lesson explores Groundhog Day and weather lore, focusing on different ways people predict the weather. Students will learn key weather-related vocabulary and expressions, explore weather-related sayings, and watch a video about the origins of Groundhog Day. They will also create and present their own weather forecasts.
Other lessons you might like include: “Superstitions” and “Phrasal Verbs: The weather”.
Speaking: The lesson starts with speaking activities, where students discuss predicting the weather, its importance, and how people relied on traditional methods of weather forecasting before modern technology.
Speaking and reading activities then focus on weather lore. Students match the two halves of 8 weather sayings (e.g., “Birds flying low, expect rain and a blow”), discuss their meanings and possible logical explanations, and read about the origins of each saying. Students also match vocabulary from the text (e.g., humidity, precipitation, sunset, sunrise, approach) to their definitions and complete a multiple-choice activity.
Next, in the pre-listening vocabulary section, students learn terms such as toss a coin, track record, guess, miserable, and discuss a few questions to activate this vocabulary.
In the listening activity, students watch a video titled “The Origins of Groundhog Day” and complete two listening comprehension tasks.
Finally, students are asked to create a weather forecast for a city of their choice, using the useful expressions provided.
For more speaking practice and to review key vocabulary from the lesson, you can use the conversation cards.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
Pre-class activities
All video-based ESL lesson plans include online pre-class activities, which are FREE and can be completed without registration. Perfect for teachers who wish to embrace the blended learning approach. By providing students with resources and engagement opportunities before the actual class session, educators can foster active participation, enhance comprehension, and optimise in-class discussions.
The pre-class activities are optional: if you choose not to assign them, or your students don’t complete them, it will not disturb the flow of the class. You can find and review the pre-class activities for this lesson plan here:
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In-class activities
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Additional resources
Each video-based lesson plan includes links to additional resources (videos and articles), which are FREE can be found online (in the pre-class activities page. These links aim to extend the learning experience, enabling students to connect classroom knowledge with real-world applications.
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Teacher’s lesson plan
Student’s worksheet
Student’s interactive PDF
Conversation cards PDF
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