Magic Box Poem. Add things to put inside the box and finish the poem by describing the box

Aim: students add lines to the Magic Box poem.
Level:  students need to be able to write simple present tense sentences and understand most of the poem below.
This task is suitable to all levels and should help integration of students in multicultural classrooms.
Procedure: students read (all or part of) the poem Magic Box by Kit Wright and add lines to the poem.

Attention: The poem is too difficult for my students so I have  adapted it to my lower levels. I have chosen the easiest verses. Since the word SUN appears two times and they are too close in the adapted version, I have  substituted SUN for FUN in one of the verses. I hope the author approves the change!

Find underneath:

• the adapted version of the poem, that is to say the poem with the easiest verses
• the whole poem. 

Just copy and paste the poem on a Word Document, change the suggested underlined  words to suit the origin of your students. Project it on the board and ask the students to read the poem aloud and to add stanzas to the poem.

Suggested procedure for adding verses to the poem and for creating a whole class poem: students work in groups to create new stanzas. Each Group writes their best stanza on the board.  Number the stanzas and have all students to read their class poem aloud.

Materials:

• a projector to show the poem to the students

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (ADAPTED). Substitute underlined word by places that represent the origin of your students. 

I will put in the box
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put in the box
three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle
a fifth season and a black sun

I will put in the box
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.
the colour of the my fun

I will put in the box…

YOUR TASK

Complete the poem. 

A) What would you put in the box? 
B) Finish the poem by adding a description of your box? 

• What does the  box look like? 
• What is it made of?   
• What shape does it have?

These are the verses my 2014-15 school year added.

Attention: Students have added these stanzas. They are posted  EXACTLY as the students entered them.

1. I will put in the box 
a sweet kiss and a hot night
good memories of our chilhood
a rainbow in the sky.

2. I will put in the box
 the smile off my grandparents
and the my parent's love
a twilight with my loved one.

3. I will put in the box
photos of my family
to remember the good times
that we had in the past

4. I will put in the box
a lot of food
and a piece of fruit
and a glass of soda

5. I will put in the box
another smaller box
inside it  will have something smoller
it is said our wedding ring 

6.I will put in the box 
happy moments with my friends
the day I passed my catalan exam 
a lovely smile of my father


 

THE MAGIC BOX, by Kit Wright (Complete version)

I will put in the box

the swish of a silk sari on a summer night,
fire from the nostrils of a Chinese dragon,
the tip of a tongue touching a tooth.

I will put in the box

a snowman with a rumbling belly
a sip of the bluest water from Lake Lucerene,
a leaping spark from an electric fish.

I will put into the box

three violet wishes spoken in Gujarati,
the last joke of an ancient uncle,
and the first smile of a baby.

I will put into the box

a fifth season and a black sun,
a cowboy on a broomstick
and a witch on a white horse.

My box is fashioned from ice and gold and steel,
with stars on the lid and secrets in the corners.
Its hinges are the toe joints of dinosaurs.

I shall surf in my box
on the great high-rolling breakers of the wild Atlantic,
then wash ashore on a yellow beach
the colour of the sun.

You may want to visit the Poetry Society page on ideas on how to use this poem HERE 

Thanks to John Lavery, at the September 2013 British Council workshop  in Barcelona for providing me with this idea.