The 7th week of poetry was magical for Twain 6th graders. I asked students, if you could create a magical potion, what would you use it for and why? Most students wanted, unlimited riches and to make their crushes fall in love with them, while others wanted to become smarter, a better athlete, and happiness.
The lesson for this week was inspired by the wonderful poet-in-residence Timothy Rey. We read one of his former student’s poem, “To Be Invisible,” by Kristen S. an 8th grader from Washington Elementary. In her poem Kirsten creates a potion for invisibility using unique ingredients, dops of rain, the scent of lavender, and flowers near a river. Once she mixes these ingredients together, the potion disappears. In this moment the poet realizes that she doesn’t really need a potion to be invisible. I asked students what other ways are to be invisibility without a potion. Their responses were: staying quiet, not interacting with anyone, wearing dark clothing, or hiding so no one can find you.
Inspired by Kiristen S. students took out their cauldrons and wands and created their own potion poems.
Mr. Barr’s 6th Grade
Group 1
Potion For Good Grades
By Aleksandra B.
To get good grades you need to pay attention.
To get good grades you need to do your work.
To get good grades you have to do great on a test.
When you do all of those steps, you mix them,
and it works.
But to get good grades you do to do all
these steps in real life.
You remember that to get good grades,
you can’t use a potion.
You need to do it in school
with motivation.
A Concoction To Create Him
By Samantha M.
A bottle of cologne from him,
A sweater of his,
A cloud of hair, blonde to be specific,
Loads of protection,
13 years of life (so far),
5’6 of height,
Strength of a lion,
Looks from tigers,
Contacts of blue and green eyes,
1 pair of braces,
An IQ of 138,
Skin of a golden nugget.
Love from me,
Take a dead, used life.
But wait,
He already exists in my grasp.
I destroy the potion, it bubbles
in a pot.
So maybe,
Destroy this recipe too.
A Potion For Money and Happiness
By Victor M.
Collect 5 tears of Joy.
Get three 20-dollar bills.
Put in a happy sticker.
1 strand of a rich kid’s hair.
Stir in a cauldron.
Bubble, bubble, boom, pop
Pour it in a pill capsule.
carry it around the town.
Side effects:
It goes in case, bank or investment randomly.
You do not determine the amount of money.
You can use it as many times as you want,
but it has a 30 min cool down.
If needed desperately, then you can choose
how much and where it goes to.
You need to keep the pill in
a sweater, shorts, or jacket.
Mr. Barr’s 6th Grade
Group 2
Potion For Takis
By Nicole A.
Get a Takis bag from the store.
Find a good spot to plant the Takis.
Get one Taki from the bag and put
it on the ground.
Then, get water and pour it on the Taki
and wait 3 weeks.
After that, pour water again for 5 weeks.
Finally, when 5 weeks is up there will
be a tree full of Takis.
Warning: Never do it!!!!
Potion For the Ability of Fly
By Jaylena D.
First, a spray of water.
Then add a lot of white paint,
Add in a spray of perfume.
Pour in a sprinkle of stars.
Lastly throw in lavender
for the finished results.
Your Past, The Time
By Luis V.
Get your equipment and get ready
to go anywhere.
Here or there.
Stone, Ice, Bronze,
or even 9, memory of your own past.
The side effects: to go back
you need to relive everything
with your memories,
or you could bring
a current photo with you
and make a new potion.
Mr. Barr’s 6th Grade
Group 3
To Be Kind
By Jared R.
To be kind you need a few ingredients.
To be kind you need two sunflowers.
To be kind you need tears from the nicest person.
To be kind you need two hairs from Max H.
To be kind you need a tooth of a penguin.
To be kind you need to photos of people you love.
After putting those things in, add it to a spray bottle.
Then shake it awhile.
Then add some more pictures and shake again.
Then drink, and you’ll be kind.
Potion For Love
By Sophia R.
To make someone fall in love you need,
A water bottle
A drop of water.
A scent of strawberry.
A bit of pink glitter.
A drop of a Hero’s tears.
Mix it,
give them the bottle for a drink.
But I realized that I don’t need
a potion for love …
because love comes from the heart.
A Potion For Greatness
By Benito V.
Put in Jordan’s signature shoe.
Lebron’s black face guard.
Iverson’s shooting sleeve.
Wilts 100-point paper.
Klay Thomson’s 13 three pointers
and water.
You need to bake it into a donut
and spin 23 times while saying,
Greatness
and if you don’t follow the rules,
you will be turned into a goat.
