What is a Groundbear?
Six more weeks ready or not!
by Jean Cheney
February 06, 2010
Unadilla had Bill, Puxatomy had Phil and the preschool had Groundbear! When you are three, four or five years old it is kind of hard to wrap your brain around a furry little guy somewhere far away telling you that winter isn't over. With that in mind we decided to get some help from the big brown teddy bear in our reading center and conduct our own shadow experiment on Groundhog Day.
On February 1 we strapped our Groundbear into our pink and white rocking chair and carried him out to the yard where we could see him from our window. We placed him by the squirrel feeders and hoped our furry little friends wouldn't mind.
The big word 'prediction' was introduced, a chart was made and each child had to decide the age old "would he" or "wouldn't he" question that marks Groundhog Day everywhere. The class also ask Mr. Robb, many of the parents that came to drop off and pick up and anyone else they could find. With 16 predictions that he would see his shadow and 21 that he wouldn't we all went home to wait for Tuesday morning.
A cold and snowy night in the yard for our little Groundbear ended with a bright and sunny morning on February 2. The morning class bundled up after breakfast and went outside to check and to see their own shadows as well. The question was answered...6 more weeks of winter. The afternoon class bundled up after lunch and went out to rescue Groundbear from the sunny but cold day. He was unstrapped from the chair, wrapped in a blanket and spent the rest of the day warming his fur in the library center.
We made not have made the national news shows but we decided our Little Panthers version of Groundhog Day was lots of fun and our little Groundbear did just fine.
