Spells that rhyme for Halloween time

School
Mark Twain Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Joy Young

Date

This week is Halloween! To celebrate, on Tuesday, Twain 4th graders learned how rhymes can be magical. I asked students, “If you could create a magic spell, what would you use it for? Students thought about spells for unlimited riches, superpowers, or conjuring up creatures such as zombies and vampires.

Together we read the poem, “Dizzy Spell,” by Shelagh McGee. In her poem, McGee used couplets to add strange and mystifying ingredients into her cauldron, to create a spell that makes people confused or lose their balance. Couplets are a pair of two lines that end in rhyme. Seventeen jumps from a springing frog/ a wag from a tail of a ten-year-old dog/ From a Viennese Waltz take a couple of whirls/ and whisk with the giggles of twenty-four girls.

Inspired by Shelagh McGee, students took out their wands and created spells that will scare or make you laugh. Read these poems with caution, or you’ll get turned into something terrifying. Happy Halloween.

School
Mark Twain Elementary School

Poet in Residence
Joy Young

Date

Twain Elementary decorations and students’ pumpkins

Ms. Gomez-Drakulich 4th Grade Group 1

Cinnamon Roll Spell By Lilly A.

Add some powder,
and add some flower.
Put some charms
and put some “No Harm.”
Add some gum,
and add some plum.

Magic Spell by Joselyn P.

With a wand I could make books float.
When I make my spell in the sunlight,
the spell will disappear.

If I make a spell on flowers,
they will grow beautifully,
and the butterflies are flying
in the sky.

Although, I could make a spell
of anything I want,
I decided to make the world
more beautiful.

Hechizo de Perritos/ Dog Spell by Jeanneris.

Una cala baza podrida
ricos mosquitos muertos
lindas patas de gatos
unas serpiente venenosas
murcielagos con ojos rojas
vampiros sin ojo

y si le pongo rosas: no mejor no semarchitarian

noyas se rosas falsa si! si !lolotengo

A rotten cove
Delicious dead mosquitoes
Cute cat paws
venomous snakes
bats with red eyes
Vampires without an eye

and if I put roses on it: it would not be better not to wither

I know, roses fake, Yes! Yes! I have it

Ms. Hayes 4th Grade Group 2

The Lamborghini Spell by Elena A.

An engine from a car.
An alien from Mars.
Wheels from an engineer.
Horns from a reindeer.
Build the shape,
paint it any color.

A Mansion Dream by Aylen O.

A big mansion,
as big as a tree house.
I would love to sleep there.
I would sleep like a sloth.
Birds chirping, fresh air.
But when I woke up,
it was a dream.

It felt like someone put a spell on me.
I was tricked.
I was rigged.
What a spell.
It was a fail.
But I went back to sleep,
so, I can finish the dream.

I woke up, it was time for school.
I said, no, no, no
But I realize I had poetry!

Angel's Hypnotize Spell by Angel

A cup of sky.
A clock.
Nothing that’s not there.
A mirror
Candy.
A tablet.

Get candy from a bag,
and a cup of sky with
rhyme.

Give a tablet,
stare at the mirror,
and you’ll see yourself
in your bear.

Ms. Williams 4th Grade Group 3

Friday Spell by Jayson D.

3 hours from Monday dust.
5 hours from Wednesday soda.
2 hours from Thursday powder.
1 hour from Tuesday pollen.
6 hours from Saturday joy.
7 hours from Sunday happiness.

Candy Corn Spell by Grace M.

Wrappings from a mummy.
Paint chips from a dummy.
4 mermaid tears.
10 children’s fears.
7 pumpkin seeds.
3 bad deeds.

Ms. Carther 4th Grade Group 4

Black Hole Spell by Xavier L.

A cap of blue flame, I hope I
don’t get blamed.

Ashes from a tree, will I
make it back and be free.

Lightening straight from a cloud.
Would I still hear sound?

The stick from a slime,
might get in your eye.

Scales from a dragon,
will I find it in a wagon?

Power from a bomb,
I will call him Tom.

The Trapped Spell, That Trapped a Thousand Children. by Roman R.

Mix in chains from a jail cell.
Add some droplets from a nasty well.
Why not some sticky glue too.
With some rings that moo.
It will put you in a TV screen,
with a melody of lovely screams.

Coco Spell by Caleb D.

A pot of bat fangs and spider eyes,
So, we need rats for cats
and two skins from a pumpkin
that was a bumpkin.
Last, add some gold to make
the pot bold.

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