Happy Birthday To You! By: Dr.

Seuss
published in 1959 by Random House, New York, ISBN: 978-0-394-80076-9
By: Kassandra Kulnys-Douglas and Bailey Thibodeau

The Story:
This is a story about a fictional land called Katroo, where the birthday bird throws the reader an
amazing party on their birthday! The celebration includes colourful food, gifts and a ton of exciting
activities all planned by the birthday bird! After experiencing all of the wonderful, exciting activities the
story ends when the birthday bird takes the reader home at the end of the day and the reader falls
asleep.
Why it's Suitable:
This is a suitable book for grade two because it is silly and rhymes which makes it engaging for
younger students. The language is age appropriate. There are pictures and large print and the text is
not overwhelming.
The Bigger Picture:
The big picture connection for this book is that it encourages students that celebrating who you are
and being unique is a part of what makes the world a great place to live in.

Subject/Expectations

Arts strategies/Materials

Teaching hints

Assessment

Dance: Overall:
Creating and presenting;
apply the creative process to
the composition of simple
dance phrases, using the
elements of dance to
communicate feelings and
ideas

Page 6
In groups organized either by
seasons, or birth month
students will create a birthday
handshake that represents the
month or season that their
birthday is in.*

If students are
struggling, the
teacher could give
them three or four
different
sequences and
have students
string the
sequences
together in their
groups, rather than

Assessment for
learning: teaching
would walk around
to make sure all
students are
participating and
using elements of
dance
Assessment:
Assessing the final
product, which

Specific:
A1.2: use dance as a

Materials: No materials
required

language to represent the

main ideas in poems and
stories with a focus on body
and space

students creating would be graded

the whole
based on a rubric.
handshake on their
own.

A1.3: create distinct

beginnings and endings for
dance phrases in a variety of
ways
Visual Art:
Overall:
Creating and presenting;
apply the creative process to
produce a variety of- 2 and 3
dimensional artworks, using
elements, principles, and
techniques of visual arts to
communicate feelings, ideas,
and understandings

Page 21
Have students create their
favourite birthday meal in 3D.
Then have students figure out
what food groups their birthday
meal fits into. *

Materials: Plasticine, tissue

paper, playdough, clay,
crayola model magic

Students could
take a picture of
their favourite food
at home and then
bring the picture in
as a guide when
they are creating
their food plates.

Assessment of
learning: Teacher
would assess the
different materials
students used to
create their
birthday meals.
Teacher would
also assess the
students ability to
connect their
birthday meal to
Canada's food
guide and why or
why not their meal
is healthy using a
previously
established rubric.

Students could
pick a song that
they all really like
and change the
words to use
words from the
word/phrase list
made from the

Assessment for
learning: teaching
would walk around
to make sure all
students are
participating and
using elements of
music.

Specific:
D1.4 use a variety of
materials, tools and
techniques to respond to a
variety of design challenges
Overall:
Demonstrate the ability to
apply health knowledge and
living skills to make reasoned
decisions and take
appropriate actions relating
to their personal health and
well-being
Specific:
Health and Physical
Education:
C2.1 use Canada's Food
Guide to assess the
nutritional value of meals and
identify food and beverage
choices that enhance healthy
growth and development
Music:
Overall:
Creating and performing;
apply the creative process to
create and perform music for
a variety of purposes, using
the elements and techniques
of music.

Page 25
In groups, create a new Happy
Birthday song using a list of
silly words or phrases from the
book.
Students will perform their
birthday songs
Eg: There is no one alive who
is you-er than you! *

Specific:
C1.3 create simple
compositions for a specific
purpose and a familiar
audience

Materials: List of words or

phrases from the book

Visual Art:
Overall:
Creating and presenting;
apply the creative process to
produce a variety of- 2 and 3
dimensional artworks, using
elements, principles, and
techniques of visual arts to
communicate feelings, ideas,
and understandings

Whole book
Birthday amusement park:
This would be a summative
activity and would be broken up
into parts:

Specific:

If bristol board is chosen

words in the book. Assessment:

Assessing the final
product, which
would be graded
based on a rubric.

Part 1: students
can look up
different kinds of
birds from around
the word to draw
Part 1: create your own birthday inspiration for their
own bird.
bird, have students create a

Assessment for
learning: Class will
make a check list
of all items that
need to be
included
Assessment as
learning: Students
birthday bird that represents the
would write a
season that their birthday is in. Part 2: Students
reflection once
Students will create this bird and can start by
test whether or not it can fly.*
brainstorming and they have
Specific:
making a list in a
completed the
Part
2:
What
makes
me
special?
D1.4 use a variety of
group of the
checklist, but have
Have students write a journal
materials, tools and
different ways they not yet started
entry about what makes them
techniques to respond to a
are special, they
putting together
special and unique.
variety of design challenges
can then pick the
their presentation
ones
that
they
(a mid-way
Part 3:
Overall:
relate
to
the
most
reflection) to be
Create your birthday
Reflecting, responding and
and
write
about
evaluated by
amusement park. Have students
analysing; apply the critical
teacher
use their birthday bird and their them in their
journal entry about what makes journal.
analysis process to
Assessment of
communicate feelings, ideas them special and have them
learning:
create a birthday amusement
and understandings in
Part 3: Students
presentation
park that represents them.
response to a variety of art
can be given the
graded based on
Students will present to their
works and art experiences.
option of either,
previously
class about their birthday
established rubric,
amusement parks, they will talk creating a
Specific:
brochure,
will be assessed
about all aspects of their park.
D2.2 explain how elements
presenting
to
the
by the teacher and
* their birthday food project can
and principles of design are also be tied into this.*
class or creating a by peers.
used to communicate
commercial for
meaning or understanding in Materials:
their amusement
Part
1:
their own and others' art work
park
balloons, paper, feathers,
glue, markers, pencil
Language Arts:
crayons, crayons, crayola
model magic
Writing:
Overall:
Part 2: student journals
Generate, gather and
organize ideas and
Part 3: students will have the
information to write to an
option to do this digitally or
intended purpose and
on a bristol board.
audience.

1.1 identify the topic,

purpose, audience and form
for writing

students will need:

markers, pencil crayons,
crayons, etc.

Overall:
Draft and revise their writing,
using a variety of
informational, literacy, and
graphic forms and stylistic
elements appropriate for the
purpose and audience
Specific:
2.1 write short texts using
several simple forms

* Although we have not included language expectations, because all of these activities could be part of
our culminating assignment, each activity done individually could include the following expectations;
Language Arts, Writing:
Overall:
Generate, gather and organize ideas and information to write to an intended purpose and audience.
Specific:
1.1 identify the topic, purpose, audience and form for writing
Overall:
Draft and revise their writing, using a variety of informational, literacy, and graphic forms and stylistic
elements appropriate for the purpose and audience
Specific:
2.1 write short texts using several simple forms

References:
Ministry of Education. (2015) The Ontario Curriculum Grade 1-8: Health and Physical Education.
Retrieved from http://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/health1to8.pdf
Ministry of Education. (2009). The Ontario Curriculum Grade 1-8: The Arts. Retrieved from
https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/arts18b09curr.pdf
Ministry of Education. (2006). The Ontario Curriculum Grade 1-8: Language. Retrieved from
https://www.edu.gov.on.ca/eng/curriculum/elementary/language18currb.pdf