It was great meeting Twain Elementary 6th graders on Monday. Students had some experience writing poetry with their teachers. They already knew various poetry styles such as haikus, odes, quatrains, and sonnets. Being among such young poetry experts, I felt enthusiastic about our first lesson together and eager to teach them something new.
We read the poem “Thought Machine,” by Laura Mucha. In her poem Mucha uses an extended metaphor, which is when a poet compares two unlike things using the words is, am, or are and continues this comparison throughout the entire poem. Mucha compares her mind to a machine that generates different types of thoughts. Sometimes my thought machine makes thoughts like /THAT WENT WELL or YOUR DOING GREAT or YOU GOT THIS/ but sometimes it makes thoughts like/ THAT WAS TERRIBLE or HOW EMBRASSING or WHAT A MESS. Anytime the negative thoughts become too much, the poet sings, dances, writes, swims, or listens to music. By doing activities that she enjoys, the poet’s thought machine creates new positive thoughts.
Inspired by Laura Mucha, students used extended metaphors to describe their unique minds and thoughts. Please enjoy the poems below.
Mr. Burford’s 6th Grade
Group 1
Thoughts in the Clouds
By: Victoria C.
My mind is the weather-it comes unexpected.
My thoughts are cold and hot molecules connected.
They create hurricanes, tornadoes, storms, rain,
Or maybe fluffy clouds that relieve the pain.
If I overthink-I create a natural disaster,
Can I block my thoughts with plaster?
It calms into rain-but it is still a no.
But- at the end of rain, is a rainbow.
But not all negative thoughts can be slain.
What is your problem, pain?
Why is it still raining?
I did what I was supposed to, why shall it be remaining?
I will never do things right, will I?
Who knew that life and my mind could be so sly?
My Thoughts Are Race Cars
Vernon M.
My thoughts are race cars.
At night my mind is a pit stop.
I sleep as I am recharging
In the morning the race cars start going to the track
As I eat and drink, they get fuel and put on new tires.
When I started school, the race cars ran through the track
Running around my mind, thinking about math and equations.
Running around as electric currents.
When I come home and rest.
The cars come back from the race.
All rough and worn out.
Then they come back to the pit stop
To sleep and recharge.
And it all repeats.
My thoughts are powerful poetry
By Christopher P.
Poetry is powerful, poetry has a meaning like my mind does,
It makes me open my mind and it explores my mind more, it makes my mind stronger.
I can read or make poetry at the car, house, school, and the beach,
Poetry makes my mind think more than I normally do.
My mind becomes more powerful every time I read or make poetry,
I learn more words every time I read poetry.
Poetry is strong like me,
Poetry has a meaning like me and life.
Mr. Burford’s 6th Grade
Group 2
Cereal Thoughts
By Lucas H.
My thoughts are cereal.
I have so many thoughts,
each little piece of cereal
In the milk is just one thought.
My thoughts are like
colorful Fruit Loops
happy and wonderful.
They can be Raisin Bran too,
they all slowly dissolved
and slowly broken down into little pieces
gone and never thought of them again.
Marigolds Blooming
By Abigail R.
My mind is a marigold blooming
It is growing
Providing
Bees seek it to make honey
I hope to help people to succeed
Marigolds are bright
They light up dreary places
I hope I serve the same purpose
I hope that no matter what
I will forever bring joy to people
Marigolds blooming open up their arms
To the sun
To everything happy
I hope I am the same
Art Thought
Veronica U.
My mind is art
It thinks of present times
Also, how times were back in the 1800s
My minds thoughts
Have a more powerful meaning
Then what my facial expression shows
My mind leads to a different emotion,
Just how a joyful thought can have a sad background
Just like a painting with a happy image and the background is eerie.
Mr. Barr’s 6th Grade
Group 1
My Mind
By Erick A.
My mind is the internet
With many ideas trying to escape
Like scary movies on Netflix
Or maybe some viruses
When people ask me questions
My mind goes to google
When I want to buy something
I go to PayPal and my balance is $900
When I sleep my mind
Automatically goes to YouTube
Music and start playing me a lullaby
Making me fall asleep
When I play soccer
My mind goes to amazon
And buys me a shirt
And some shoes
My Mind is a blue sky
By: Alondra C.
My Mind is a beautiful clear blue sky.
My thoughts are flying into the sky.
Sometimes I see birds flying into a beautiful blue sky.
When it rains sometimes I see beautiful rainbows in the sky.
Sometimes I will travel and I will go on an airplane
and we go into the beautiful blue sky.
The clouds are beautiful in the blue sky.
Ashes
By Guadalupe N.
My mind is fading away
My thoughts are nothing
My thoughts are trying to tell me
CHEER UP or WAKE UP or COME BACK PLEASE
I NEED YOU
But then they are giving up
My thoughts then tell me
I’M EXHAUSTED or I WILL LEAVE SOON or
GOODBYE
But they don’t want to leave me
But that one part of the mind does not give up
My thoughts then come back
STAY DON’T LEAVE U GOT THIS or
IM PROUD OF YOUR IMPROVEMENTS or
YOUR DOING GREAT.
Thought Feather
By Layla S.
My mind is a white feather being blown by the wind
My mind is mostly zoned out
It’s lost in the wind
My mind goes wherever it wants
It is too weak like the feather
So I can’t control it sometimes
Like the wind blowing the feather
The feather has no control
Only the wind
The feather wishing for control
But stuck in the wind of thoughts
Mr. Barr’s 6th Grade
Group 2
Balloon Thought
Miranda A.
My thoughts are balloons
My thoughts can be like balloons they can fly away
They can be lost in the thoughts
My mind can also be like different colored balloons
Red, blue, green, purple based on the emotion of the thought
My mind can be close to popping like a balloon
When my thoughts get overwhelmed or stressed
My mind can be like the design of the balloons
Completely blank, full of scribbles, or very colorful
My find can be filled with colors or confetti
When I’m excited or happy
Juan C.
My mind is a monkey swinging through the trees
And accomplish something great.
Thought Forest Fire
Nicholas D.
One day it is good
The next day it is ash
sometimes it takes a little bit to regrowThe fire is so hot my mind can’t put it out
Or the fire spread to much
This makes the animals run
The grass burn
All that is left in the end is nothing
But when that happens I get someone to help me
Get seeds and fertilizer
We get the shovels and get ready
When it is all regrown the animals
Make their homes
The bees are pollinating
The flowers to the trees
Yarn Thoughts
Meghan O.
My thoughts are balls of yarn
Tangled and makes you confused
All scrambled up, you can’t even see the end of the string
My thoughts push and pull to untangle themselves
But it just won’t work
My thoughts can also be calming
They twist and turn to untie themselves
Eventually, they will separate
Into one thin, straight line.
But until then, my thoughts are like yarn.
