I’m excited to be back teaching 4th graders this year at Twain Elementary. To get to know this new group of students, the theme for our first session on Tuesday was self-portraits. Artists create self-portrait paintings to express who they are and how they see themselves. I showed students self-portraits painted by the famous Mexican artist Frida Kahlo. Students noticed the colorful flowers, exotic animals, and necklaces made of thorns that Kahlo painted herself with. Kahlo also loved to show off her unibrow, that she believed made her beautiful and unique.
Together we read the poem, “Paint Me Like I Am,” by Delia Garcia, a teen poet whose poem became the title of the anthology, she was featured in. In her poem Delia describes herself to readers through the positive things she wants to be painted with, and the negative things she wants to be painted without. Paint me running down a path of happiness/Paint me with bears, rabbits, and baby deer/ Paint me without sorrow/paint me without tears.
Inspired by Delia Garcia, 4th graders wrote poems and drew self-portraits with people and things that represent who they are. Please enjoy these lovely poems and pictures below.
Ms. Gomez-Drakulich 4th Grade
Group 1
Paint Me Happy
by Taras C.
Paint me with a smile.
Paint me with toy cars.
Paint me in blue.
Paint me with my mother.
Paint me with my pet.
Paint me without tears.
Paint me with without sadness.
Paint me without noise.
Paint me without anger.
Paint me without darkness.
Paint Me Myself
By Andrea C.
Paint me with a turtle and puppies.
Paint me with red roses and sunflowers
around me.
Paint me with family.
Paint me with stuff animals.
Paint me with kindness.
Paint me without sadness.
Paint me without pain.
Paint me without monsters.
Paint me without bees.
Paint me without scary things.
Paint Me Leo
By Leo P.
Paint me with my pets that can fly
and make me happy, that are parakeets.
Paint me with the wind, that flies on my
face every day and every night.
Paint me with beautiful stars within space.
Paint me with beautiful looking feathers,
birds, like my pet.
Paint me with the movement of
2D animations.
Paint me without scary death
Paint me without nothing.
Paint me without wield.
Paint me without darkness.
Paint me with Happiness
By David M.
Paint me with peace.
Paint me with God and love.
Paint me with dogs and my family.
Paint me without anger.
Paint me without evil.
Paint me without storms
paint me without moving
to a new house.
Paint me without being alone.
Ms. Hayes 4th Grade
Group 2
Paint Me with Rain
By Madeline G.
Paint me with rain.
Paint me with Tokyo
running in puddles
and splash in the rain,
reading books,
and drinking hot coco.
Paint me without spiders.
Paint me without bullies,
they can be mean.
Robots can be dangerous.
Paint me without Drama
and paint me without bugs.
Paint me Gizella
By Gizella M.
Paint me with flowers.
Paint me with rain and puddles.
Paint me with a bunch of kittens
cuddling me.
Paint me with my family.
Paint me with a bucket of candy.
Paint me without math, it makes me so mad.
Paint me without spiders, they creep me out.
Paint me without pizza, it makes me gag.
Paint me without crazy storms.
Paint me without homework.
But lastly, paint me just like me.
Paint Me With
By Luis O.
Paint me with Mr. Beast.
Paint me with a Lamborghini.
Paint me with a Bugatti.
Paint me with a Cyber truck.
Paint me with a Ferrari.
Paint me with a mansion.
Paint me with cute animals.
Paint me with money.
Paint me with a phone.
Paint me with an Xbox.
Paint me with PS5
Paint me with an underground bunker.
Paint me without bugs.
Paint me without arachnids.
Paint me with my drawings.
Paint me with my friends.
Paint me a famous YouTuber.
Paint me without coffee.
Paint me without candy.
Paint me without vegatables.
Paint me Gizella
By Isabella Z.
Paint me Izabella.
Paint me like I am.
Funny, happy, fun,
and lively.
Paint me with flowers.
Paint me with a smile
bigger than my face.
Paint me with a wonderful background.
Paint me with a sky brighter than my smile.
Paint me with my gold hair.
Paint me without sadness.
Paint me without candy.
Paint me without people,
because I find it relaxing
by myself.
Paint me without natural disaster.
Paint me without sadness.
But best of all, paint me
with bright colors that
are brighter than the sun.
Ms. Williams 4th Grade
Group 3
Paint Me
by Janelle M.
Paint me laughing, running in the woods with happiness.
Paint me being free.
Paint me with cats, bunnies, baby dear and me
being happy.
Paint me around beautiful sunshine.
Paint me with life, happiness, kindness.
Paint me with a wonderful unique pretty sky.
Paint me as an artist.
Paint me without worrying about school.
Paint me without crying.
Paint me without wiping my tears.
Paint me without worrying about my homework.
Paint me without my pain.
Paint me without worrying about my homework.
Paint me without worrying pain.
Paint me without being sad, not happy.
Paint me happy, but most of all, paint me free.
Paint Me Isaly
By Isaly R.
Paint me with a life supply of Starbucks.
Paint me with a blue snow cone.
Paint me with McDonalds fries.
Paint me with Wednesday Adams, I love her!!
Paint me with Ruffles, YUM!!
Paint me with Sephora.
Paint me without school.
Paint me without hurricanes.
Paint me without veggies.
Paint me without car crashes.
Paint me without crimes.
Paint Me Angie
By Angelique S.
Paint me with color.
Paint me with Sanrio characters
Paint me with Rilakkuma.
Paint me with happiness.
Paint me with a Kawaii GoGo.
Please don’t paint me with sadness.
Paint me without my brothers.
Paint me without homework.
Paint me without bullies.
Ms. Carther 4th Grade
Group 4
Paint Me Like I Am
by Elianna E.
Paint me in winter,
on a cold dark snowy day.
Paint me with Frenchie puppies
running in the snow.
Paint me with a light blue silky
snow outfit.
Paint me sitting in a pile of snow
with hot chocolate in my hand,
and a lantern behind me.
Paint me with a city in the background,
and a smile across my face.
Paint me without people being
and annoying.
Paint me without sadness or any bad things.
Paint me without anything.
But most of all,
Paint me calm.
Paint Me A Good Day
By Caleb D.
Paint me with books.
Paint me with dogs and cats.
Paint me with a lifetime supply of toys.
Paint me with water aka Ocean.
Paint me with a good day.
Paint me without Kids Pop.
Paint me without bees.
Paint me without tornados and hurricanes.
Paint me without a bad dream.
Paint me without a bad day.
Paint Me With ….
By Mia R.
Paint me with my guitar.
Paint me without bees.
Paint me with flowers falling from the sky.
Paint me with spiders.
Paint me without spiders.
Paint me with water.
Paint me without scary stuff.
Paint me with birds and nature.
Paint me without mosquitos.
Paint me with headphones.
Paint me without vegetables.
Paint me happy.
Paint Me with Joy
By Elsie T.
Paint me with cute little pets.
Paint me with courage.
Paint me with friendship.
Paint me with me painting
a pretty sky.
Paint me with birds flying.
Paint me with long brown hair.
Paint me with a smile on my face.
Paint me with a pretty sky.
Paint me without mosquitoes.
Paint me without trouble everywhere.
Paint me without spiders.
Paint me without people everywhere
and people being loud.
Paint me without suffering.
More 4th grade self-portraits
