Heaven or Groundhog Day?

This unit is designed to appeal to adolescents with its non-print text base, the movie Groundhog Day. The pre-viewing activities prepare students for the allusions in the movie and include cultural literacy. The teacher can pick and choose from the activities to apply the concept of personal growth. The teacher may select from activities for science, workplace ethics, music, computer competency, and English language arts. The teacher may modify any of the attachments to suit the students' needs and interests.

A lesson plan for grades 9–12 English Language Arts, Music Education, and Social Studies

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• Learn more about Groundhog Day, film, integrated unit, language arts, literature, movies, and poetry.

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Learning outcomes

“Enlightenment is infinite acceptance of all things past, infinite responsibility for all things present, and infinite service for all things future.”

—Zen definition of Nirvana

Students will:

• demonstrate accurate analysis of audience through appropriate choices in diction, motive support, point support, and non-print textual support.
• demonstrate knowledge of the concept of character qualities and reflect positive values. The content of the presentation must be persuasive and make connections between literary elements (plot development and dynamic characterization) and another discipline (psychology, science, vocational arts, or music).

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

2-3 weeks

Materials/resources

• “Patriotism” a poem by Sir Walter Scott
• “Trees” a poem by Sergeant Joyce Kilmer
• Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development (This Kohlberg Attachment is available to you with the permission of the author Dr. Judith Howell.)
• Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs
• Groundhog Day, 1993 video rated PG (Rent the movie under your school’s name which will obviate copyright infringement.)
• Rachmaninoff: “Rhapsody on a Theme of Paganini,” 18th Variation (Background information on this piece)
• Attachments from this unit

NOTE: Due to copyright restrictions, not all of the print resources we use in this lesson are available in this publication. Users must rely on their own resourcefulness. Knowing how limited teachers’ time is, we deeply regret not having all items attached at the present time.

Technology resources

• VCR
• Monitor
• Video tapes of Groundhog Day and School to Work
• Computer with internet connectivity
• Overhead Projector with transparencies and/or opaque projector and/or digital projector (computer screen display)
• CD or tape player

Pre-activities

Pre-Viewing Activities:

• Pre-Viewing Tools
• Viewing Worksheet

The Hook

The Bad Guy vs. The Good Guy. Present lines 11-16 from the poem “Patriotism” by Sir Walter Scott. Ask the students to name characters from literature or real life who fit this description. The following day collect and display the students’ choices to discuss what evidence of “wretched” self-centeredness there is for each. Explain that the class will examine such a “wretch” and discover what it might take to change such a person. Ask what qualities are essential for such a person to be transformed from selfishness to caring for others. Contrast and share a real life story of someone who found joy in life, particularly through service to others, but not through his/her own selfish pursuits. (The example we used came from a news article by Amanda Dagnino, entitled “Russell Set to Lead Habitat,” from the Carteret News-Times, March 8, 2000, which described how a successful, wealthy businessman found happiness andfulfillment in working on a Habitat for Humanity project. This article appears as an attachment below with the permission of the publisher and author. See “Happiness is Service” here with permission of the author and newspaper.)

What is Right and What is Wrong? Use the Opinionnaire as a “pre-test” and “post-test” if you wish to measure any affective changes in students as a result of your unit. Also, the Opinionnaire can be used as an essential “hook” in this lesson to evoke student interest based on varying statements. (See Larry Johannessen’s “Revenge May Not Be So Sweet: Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’” Classroom Notes Plus, January 2000.)

What’s in a Word? Use the Pre-Viewing Worksheet to help you introduce the vocabulary of the movie to the students. Include the connotations of the words, e.g., “prima donna,” which alludes to a self-important, arrogant performer who is dismissive of others.

The Lines

If Music be the Food of Love, Play On. Play the Rachmaninoff piece, asking the class to think of a “crush,” an infatuation, or of a present love. Discuss instances that the students offered. Ask students to consider the melody whenever the person’s name or memory arose.

Right vs. Motive & Morals. Present Maslow’s and Kohlberg’s models of needs and moral development. Give or ask for a moral dilemma and what a person operating on a particular level would do and what motivations would be behind the choices. See A Summary of Lawrence Kohlberg’s Stages of Moral Development and the Kohlberg model by Dr. Judith Howell.

Groundhogs, Squirrels, and Turkey Meteorology. Use the cartoon of weather myths to introduce the concept of Groundhog Day. (Available in Ranger Rick’s Nature Scope: Wild About the Weather.) Earth Science teachers may implement vertical practices in the meteorology unit.

People Skills. Ask students what communication skills would be needed in productive work environments. The VOCATS video Part III of interpersonal skills in the work place presents real world applications of essential communication skills. Show this segment to the students to show how the concepts that emerged from discussion are applied in the work place.

Perfect Man, Perfect Society. For lower levels, the cloze exercise is useful for listening, writing, and comprehension. Cloze answers are on a separate page.

Snap Shot. For lower levels, the synopsis is useful for the students to understand the events in the movie.

Plot Puzzle. For lower levels, select five or more elements of the plot and print them on paper. Cut them apart and have students assemble them in sequence. (Be careful to cut them uniformly, or else, some students will merely fit shapes of paper together, rather than look for the cause and the effect patterns.)

The Sinker

The Task. Introduce Student Role Simulation Performance Task at a point that works with your planning. There are many opportunities you can create for this moment depending on your teaching style and the skill level of the class.

The Movie Viewing Worksheet. The Student Viewing Worksheet is designed to help the student look for specific elements for terms, plot development, and theme; and asks the student to identify the Mazlow level at which the protagonist is operating at key moments in the plot.

Also for lower levels that have not yet passed the computer competency test, see the Computer Editing Exercise and the Edit Exercise. For this exercise, print out a copy of the Computer Editing Exercise, a copy of the Edit Exercise, and a copy of what the final version looks like. See below (where Groundhog Day is italicized, replace with underlining). Save a copy of the Computer Editing Exercise on student computers and have students edit according to the Edit Exercise, which contains Computer Skills Curriculum Word Processing Editing marks, and the final version of the synopsis.

Synopsis of Groundhog Day. Set in contemporary Punxsutawney, Pennsylvania on February 2nd, Groundhog Day, an arrogant Pittsburgh weatherman Phil Conners goes with his producer Rita and cameraman Larry to report the prediction of Punxsutawney Phil, the groundhog. Phil Conners is a self-centered, egotistical prima donna who thinks only of fulfilling his own pleasures of life. After the news event is over, a blizzard prevents Phil and his team from leaving town, Phil wakes up the next morning to discover that the day is repeating itself. In fact, he finds he must relive February 2nd repeatedly for what seems like an eternity, at first satisfying his own desires in life, next realizing that he cannot gain acceptance from mainstream society as a phony (someone who only pretends to be “nice”), then seeing that there is an external Force in life, and finally becoming a man who puts the needs of others first. Once Phil reaches the stage of self-actualization, he is able to move on to the future.

The story of Groundhog Day presents the theme that through persistence, a person can improve his character and values to become a person of responsibility, goodness, and service to others. The rewards of such attitudes are happiness and fulfillment.

Activities

Teacher:

1. In private, view the movie Groundhog Day, first for personal enjoyment and a second time using the Viewing Worksheet. The movie is rich in detail, literary elements, and dialogue; multiple viewings will reveal teachable moments and highlights to you.
2. Prepare visuals and/or copies to support the Pre-Activities using the attachments found throughout this lesson plan.
3. According to the skill level of your class, select activities from the list below that will best support the Performance Task for your students.
4. You can make this unit as long or as short as you wish based on the number or supporting activities you require from the students. Please note that not all students need to do all of the activities from other disciplines. Because the audience for the student performance is the entire class, all students will observe the final products and experience. You may wish to assign particular tasks to certain students.
5. Network with teachers from other the disciplines to coordinate or to enlist support in common competency goals.

Student

Student Performance Task. You are a parent of a wayward ninth grader who depends solely on TV and movies for entertainment and “literature.” He does not get along well with others, and he is not doing well in school. You find a comedy that has potential for lessons in life as well as possible springboards for discussion of school subjects. Your task is to present the movie to your child with commentary that will help him understand positive values and literary elements.

Activities to Support Your “Talk”. Use the Activity Sheet for Students.

• Write a short feature article describing the movie Groundhog Day to be in at least two different types of TV guides, e.g., for adolescents who only dress in black, for adolescents who have a special interest or no interests at all, for A&E or The Learning Channel, for Sports Illustrated, for a fraternity house, or for a special audience of your choice.
• Design and produce a visual aid, e.g., a mobile, poster, or collage to explain Maslov’s Hierarchy or Kolhberg’s Stages of Moral Development. View a student sample.
• Create and draw a movie poster of the significant symbols from the movie depicting two or three conflicts. View a student sample.
• Gather and arrange pictures that illustrate “Good Guy” qualities for a bulletin board, PowerPoint, Hyperstudio, or Slide Show presentation. View a view sample.
• Collect the poems mentioned in the movie, “Patriotism,” “Trees,” a Baudelaire, including, “Winter slumbering in the open air wears on his smiling face a dream of spring,” and select pictures from magazines that enhance the message of each.
• Produce the movie’s poems on transparencies for scansion, analysis of literary devices, and themes. View sample.
• Research, collect, and create a scrapbook of stories of heroes from real life who have found joy in service to others. View sample.
• Write a Christmas “wish” list of qualities you would like to possess and what specific behavior or decision would demonstrate that quality. You may include pictures. For example, “consideration for others” might be demonstrated by choosing no-name brand clothing to spare your parents’ hard-earned money and might be illustrated by a red “no” sign on a designer label. Alongside that, you may write a list of qualities you hope to find in a best friend or in a person of your dreams. View sample.
• Add a musical component to any of the above by choosing a song as a theme for the main idea you are presenting. Play the tape or CD and display a transcript of lyrics on an overhead or on the computer monitor as a background to your presentation. View picture of students who used this activity.
• Use a recording of Rachmaninoff’s “18th Variation of a Theme by Paganini” as appropriate background music to present a visual and/or poem of and about someone or something beloved and cherished.
• Transcribe the words from “You Don’t Know Me” by Eddie Arnold and Cindy Walker, sung by Ray Charles, and/or “Almost Like Being in Love” by Lerner and Lowe, sung by Nat King Cole and describe the irony and understatement of either or each song.
• Re-write and enact a scene from the movie with the protagonist or secondary character operating from a different level of Maslow’s Hierarchy or Kohlberg’s Moral Stages.
• Research philosophies that instruct and develop good character qualities. Your research may involve other cultures. Display your findings with magazine picture clippings on posterboard. Be sure to cite your sources correctly using MLA format.
• Along with weather prediction myths, assemble other myths that misguide people about character, e.g., ““Good guys finish last,” etc. Another work group should assemble the reverse doctrines which may include meteorology.
• Interview your parent or guardian about the interpersonal skills they use or observe at work. Refer to the principles of interpersonal skills from the VOCATS video: teamwork, negotiation (respect for others, forgiveness, admitting wrong), diversity, serving the community, exercising leadership, teaching new skills (which helps whoever teaches master the skills, too). What does each term mean? How did your parent or guardian learn the skill? How does the skill make the job easier to do? Ask your parent or guardian what experiences would enable you to acquire some of those skills.
• Arrange to visit one of the local TV broadcasting studios to report back some of the job-specific skills that must be used in programming, e.g., split-second timing and cues, lighting and makeup, close community ties, etc. Based on your findings, comment on the production techniques seen in the movie.
• Bill Murray, the actor playing the protagonist in Groundhog Day has starred in two other movies that feature transitions, Scrooged and Razor’s Edge. Write a movie review comparing the dynamic characterizations.
• Write an argument that attacks the existential positions of one, two, or all three of the above movies. (You may include “The Myth of Sisyphus.”)

Final Product. You and your partner(s) will decide the roles you will take: parent(s) or teenage offspring(s). You or your teacher will select your activities to support your dialogue. Develop your roles through the experiences you would like your children to have some day to better understand values that will help them find contentment in life and to find better achievement in their academics. The class and the teacher will be the evaluators for effectiveness. The grading criteria will be:

• Time and effort shown to make an effective presentation using some visual aid
• Content that successfully encourages courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline
• Delivery that is focused on the audience effectively receiving the message (good voice, eye contact with other actors, communicativeness, body control, timing)

Assessment

The student should demonstrate accurate analysis of audience through appropriate choices in diction, motive support, point support, and non-textual support. The student’s presentation should demonstrate knowledge of the concept of character qualities and reflect positive values. The content of the presentation must be persuasive and make connections between literary elements (plot development and dynamic characterization) and another discipline (psychology, science, vocational arts, or music).

Use the Assessment Rubric for the Presentation.

Support:

• Is appropriate and explains a vital concept in the presentation.
• Uses non-print media for resources and presentation effectively.
• Reflects time or talent in its preparation in a creative manner.
• Captured the attention of the audience and was appropriate.
• Uses a creative, appropriate, and highly effective approach.
• Has appropriate sense of the audience.
• Has a sense of overall completeness.
• Is a pleasure to observe and is supported with written work that is error-free in mechanics, spelling, grammar, and punctuation.

Content:

• Shows an appropriate development of the role of parent/child.
• Selects activities that effectively supports the ideas of the presentation.
• Shows a responsible attitude towards the parent’s role of character-building.
• Encourages courage, good judgment, integrity, kindness, perseverance, respect, responsibility, and self-discipline in the listener.
• Connects logically with another course, e.g., psychology, science, vocational arts, or music.

Delivery:

• Works cooperatively with partner(s).
• Demonstrates proficient use of any support equipment.
• Demonstrates effective use of voice (volume and intonation).
• Demonstrates a sense of communicativeness and care for the audience.
• Demonstrates effective eye contact that is consistent and focused.
• Demonstrates poise and composure in voice and body.
• Demonstrates appropriate timing including the use of pauses.

Many of these elements come from the Scoring Guide: English II Essay, 1998-1999 End of Course Testing by the Public Schools of North Carolina.

Supplemental information

Works Cited and Acknowledgements

Anderson, Robert, et. al. Elements of Literature: Third Course. Austin: Holt, Rinehart and Winston, Inc., 1993. Has comprehensive and useful literary terms glossary.

Barker, Barney. Music Instructor at East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Music Component.

Benet, William Rose, The Reader’s Encyclopedia, Second Edition. New York: Thomas Y. Crowell Company, 1965. Has quick, brief descriptions for reference, e.g., Anton Chekhov.

Braus, Judy, Ed. Ranger Rick’s Nature Scope: Wild About the Weather. Washington, D.C.: National Wildlife Federation, 1989. Has an appealing cartoon exercise about weather myths which includes the groundhog.

Brown, Laurie, Social Studies Instructor at West Carteret High School, Morehead City, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Psychology.

Carver, Patsy, Home Economics Instructor at East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Interpersonal Skills.

Clark, Mary and David Vaughan, Ed. The Encyclopedia of Dance and Ballet. New York: G. P. Putnam’s Sons, 1977. Has photos of prima donnas with expressive images.

Coble, Charles R., et. al. Earth Science Englewood Cliffs: Prentice-Hall: 1991. Has unit on weather predictions.

Dagnino, Amanda, “Russell Set to Lead Habitat,” Carteret News-Times, March 8, 2000, p 1B. This is an inspiring article of a wealthy man who found happiness through charitable works.

Dornbush, Sanford. “Families, Schools, and Adolescent Deviance,” Lecture October 14, 1999, Stanford University. His writings describe causal factors in affective development.

Gardner, Helen, Ed. The New Oxford Book of English Verse: 1250-1950. New York: Oxford University Press, 1972. “Patriotism” by Sir Walter Scott.

Gladwell, Malcolm. “Annals of Behavior: Do Parents Matter?” The New Yorker, August 17, 1998: 54-64.

Groundhog Day. Dir. Harold Ramis. With Bill Murray, Andie MacDowell, Chris Elliot, Steve Tobolowski, and Rick Overton. Columbia Tristar, 1993.

Howell, Dr. Judith. “Curriculum Differentiation for the Academically Gifted,” Seminar, May 1998.

Hudnall, Patricia. Vice-Principal at East Carteret High School with sharp wit and a keen memory for lines from poetry. Consultation, advice, detective work, and materials on the poetry from Groundhog Day.

Johannessen, Larry. “Revenge May Not Be So Sweet: Edgar Allen Poe’s ‘The Cask of Amontillado,’” Classroom Notes Plus, January 2000: 11-14.

Kasschau, Richard A. Understanding Psychology. See pp 143-4 and pp 281-283. New York: Glencoe, 1995.

LaPointe, Ross, Instructor at East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Psychology.

Maslow, Abraham. Religions, Values, and Peak Experiences. Menlo Park: The Viking Press, 1970.

“Maslow’s List of B(eing)-Values.” Beyond Dichotomies. http://wynja.com/personality/bvalues.html

Plotnik, Rod, et.al. Introduction to Psychology, Fourth Edition. San Diego: Brooks/Cole Publishing Company ITP, 1996.

Robbins, Paul. Understanding Psychology. Portland: J. Weston Walch. 1995. See Chapter 5 ”Motivation.“

School to Work: Workplace Basics. Pleasantville: Sunburst Communications, 1999. Part 3 has a comprehensive description of work ethics in communications.

Scoring Guide: English II Essay 1998-1999, End of Course Testing. Public Schools of North Carolina, Division of Accountability. Has guidelines to help you align rubrics with English II standards.

Shelton, Cecil. Earth Science Instructor at East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Weather Systems.

Simon, Sidney B., Values and Teaching. Columbus: Charles E. Merrill Publishing Company, 1965. Appendices A, B, C, D, and E have extremely useful values questions and feedback suggestions.

Stainback, Lynda. Special Education Instructor at East Carteret High School, Beaufort, NC. Consultation, advice, and materials on Values Education.

Yaros, Ron. Channel 12 WXII’s Weatherschool. St. Louis: Yaros Communications, Inc., 1990. Has direct, clear explanations about weather predictions.

Related websites

• Punxsutawney Phil.com is the Groundhog Day website.
• The Punxsutawney Groundhog Club website contains Phil’s past predictions since 1887 as well as the tradition behind Groundhog Day.