Birthdays
The
Birthday Child
By Rose Fyleman
Everything's been different,
All the day long.
Lovely things have happened,
Nothing has gone wrong.
Nobody has scolded me,
Everyone has smiled.
Isn't it delicious
To be a birthday child?
~~~
Happy Birthday
I've got a lot
of presents
that I'd like
to give to you.
I'll give you
all my Brussels sprouts
and all my liver
too.
I'll give you
all my gym socks
when they really
start to stink.
I'll give you
all my pens when
they are running
out of ink.
I'll give you
all my broken toys
and empty jars
of paste.
I'll give you
all my bubble gum
that's chewed
and lost its taste.
I'll give you
all the dust balls that
I found beneath
my bed.
I'll give you
all my batteries
as soon as they
are dead.
So have a happy
birthday,
you're a special
friend indeed,
and please accept
this trashcan
full of stuff
that I don't need.
Copyright ©
1999, Kenn Nesbitt
http://www.Poetry4kids.com/happybirthday.html
This page is mainly a collection of birthday poems, songs, and stories. Not a lot of fancy activities to go with these, because most people already have ways of celebrating birthdays in their classroom. Instead, this page is mainly a resource for those of you who are looking for something new to add to your birthday celebrations.
Here
are a few things I've done in the past
to
make Birthdays extra special days in my classroom:
I have two inexpensive plastic crowns with "jewels" from the party store. The Birthday Child gets to wear the crown of their choice all day inside the room.
~~~
There are several crown diecuts for the Ellison machine.
Some teachers like to make a special crown for the Birthday Child to wear and take home, complete with their name and age in sparkly glitter.
~~~
We usually celebrate summer birthday
kids' "half birthdays,"
so that they don't miss out on the
fun of having a birthday at school.
~~~
I have a special traveling bag that
goes home with the birthday child.
Inside are several birthday stories,
and our class Birthday Book.
The Birthday Book has blackline pages inside so that each child may write about their special day, and there's a box at the top of the page to draw an illustration (some parents put in a photo instead).
Be sure to have lots of extra pages, because many times siblings want to write in this book, too. When the Birthday Book isn't traveling, it's a very popular part of our class library.
~~~
In my classroom, the Birthday Child gets to choose the birthday story they'd like me to read to the class. I also have two poetry cubes (made of the bottom half of two milk cartons nested together, then covered with contac paper) with poems attached to all six sides.
The Birthday Child rolls the cube, and I read whatever poem comes up on top. I have similar cubes for "I Lost A Tooth" poems.
~~~
I graph the children's birthdays by month at the beginning of the school year, as part of our Apples study (it's an extension activity for The Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree). Information about the story -- and our birthday follow up activities -- is below.
~~~
I made a chart of Birthday Words (with Rebus pictures) and keep it up all year long. The children refer to it during Writer's Workshop, and it helps them to write about their favorite topics. Words include friends, presents, balloons, ice cream, party, cake, candles, and Happy Birthday to You!
Birthday
Scrolls
Thanks to Gail
Sara for this great idea!
By the way, one
of the things that I do for birthdays is .....I have a
collection of
birthday poems. I put each one on a "scroll" (type up on a
pretty piece
of paper, roll it up and tie a ribbon around it) and keep all
the scrolls in
a fancy birthday gift bag hanging on the bulletin board. Each
time it is a
child's birthday, the child reaches in the bag and selects a
scroll and I
make a big deal of "presenting" the scroll and reading the poem
to the student
who then gets to take it home. They really seem to cherish
this birthday
poem. I guess it mean so much to them because of the big deal
that I make of
the "presentation."
Happy
Birthday!
A
Beginner's Book of Signs
Every child loves a birthday party, and all the important words needed to
help celebrate one are here, from clown to candle, as well as the
important numbers to help you count how old you are!Incorporating sign language into my reading program is great for those kids who are struggling and need kinesthetic activities. This book is also great to put in your Sign Language Center.
The
Seasons of Arnold's Apple Tree
A great story
about Arnold enjoying his
apple tree all
year long.
Under $5
After we've read about how an apple tree changes during the year,
we make a large chart showing the four seasons, with the season's months listed beneath it (leaving lots of room to write).
Then we talk about
the special things that happen in each month,
beginning with
the holidays that children are already familiar with,
and things like
the beginning and end of school. I add each item under the appropriate
month.
Next we predict
which season will have the most birthdays in it,
based on the
kids in our class.
The predictions
are recorded on our chart,
and then we list
the birthdays for each month.
After all the
birthdays are there (don't forget your own!), we count
them by making
tally marks, then write a number total for the month.
Finally, we add
up all the tally marks and write the totals next
to our original
predictions.
This information
is transferred neatly to a 4 column birthday chart
divided up by
the four seasons, with a cake for each month.
I write the birthday
names and dates on the cakes with a dry-erase
marker, so they're
easy to change during the year, if needed.
At the beginning of each new month, we check our birthday
chart and make a small Ellison (or note pad) cake for each child who has a birthday that month, and we slip it into the calendar pocket chart to remind us of their special day. The children enjoy counting the days until a friend's birthday. For children with summer birthdays, we celebrate their "half birthday" instead.
The
Wish
By Ann Friday
Each birthday wish
I've ever made
Really does come true.
Each year I wish
I'll grow some more
And every year
I DO!
~~~
Today
by John Archambault
Glory may
I like today.
Today, today
I like today.
No other day's
quite like today,
Not tomorrow
or yesterday.
I like today
In every way.
Today, today,
Today,
My birthday!
~~~
The Birthday Cake
Today is my birthday.
I think I'll make a cake.
Mix and stir, stir and mix,
Then into the oven to bake.
Here's the cake so nice and round,
I'll put icing on so white.
I'll put on all the candles
To make my birthday bright!
Happy birthday to me!
Birthday
Rhymes, Special Times
32 poems by favorite writers, including
Shel Silverstein, Ogden Nash, and Jack
Prelutsky.
Great for poetry journals and pocket
charts!
Under $5
~~~
Happy
Birthday, Ronald Morgan!
It is the end of the school year, and
Ronald's birthday
comes one day too late to be celebrated
at school.
I love all the Ronald Morgan stories
:o)
Under $5
My students love the Little Bear stories
by Frank Asch.
In this book, Little Bear discovers
echoes and buys the moon a hat
for his birthday. This kids really
enjoy outguessing Little Bear!
I have a large, laminated bulletin board with Little Bear, a tree, and the moon.
I set up a Hat Store in my classroom, and each child gets to spend 10 cents to
make a Birthday Hat for the moon. There are different shapes, colors, and sizes, and many different items they can purchase for a penny each to decorate their hats. We attach all the hats to the tree, and then graph the styles and colors of hats, and write about our graph.
Happy Birthday!
Today's the day
We get to say
We're happy you were born.
Hooray!
~~~
The Birthday Cow
Happy Mooday to you,
Happy Mooday to you.
Happy Mooday
Dear Yooday,
Happy Mooday to you!
Our Favorite Birthday Books
