Our fourth grade class is a team, where we support each other and learn together.Our team includes three teachers (Ms. Chiero, Miss Soldano, Mr. DelPrete, and many students who all have unique strengths to share.We learn in many different ways, sometimes as a whole class and sometimes in small groups or with partners.We respect our different learning styles and think about how we learn best. 

When you walk into our classroom, you see all of our “Name Stars” hanging on the walls, showing all of the important members of our team. We all show “STAR” behavior through our Safety, Tolerance, Attitude, Respect and Responsibility. We also display photos and our work in the classroom and hallway to highlight our learning. We think about how we are connected to the world and learn from different global perspectives. Every year we have a classroom pen pal from the Peace Corps who shares with us her cultural experiences and inspires us to help others. Our past pen pals were Kate and KC (volunteers in Senegal, West Africa) and this year our pen pal is Casey in Panama!

In fourth grade we learn a lot in many subjects!We have a big classroom library and learn about reading through our reading groups, independent reading, fun vocabulary lessons, and sorting words in word study groups.Our “ThinkMath” program teaches us to think mathematically in exciting ways.In Writers’ Workshop, we write personal narratives, essays, and poems. In science we explore structures of the Earth, structures of life (looking at plants and crayfish!), and simple machines (the Invention Convention!). Social Studies exploration includes maps and globes, immigration, and North America (the USA regions, Canada, and Mexico!). 

Ms. Chiero

Ms Chiero loves teaching at Woodrow Wilson! She has been teaching here for more than 20 years and has taught every grade except kindergarten. What grade is her favorite to teach? You guessed it, fourth grade! Fourth grade is a time of growing independence and self-discovery. Ms. Chiero encourages her students to understand and challenge themselves as learners. She loves seeing her 4^th grade students grow in their confidence and independence. Ms. Chiero is an avid reader (Look that up 4^th graders!). Her favorite genres are mystery and fantasy, but she does try to read other types as well. She loves curling up and getting lost in the pages of a great story. Her mother use to say to her, “When you have your nose in a book, the world disappears around you.” Ms. Chiero encourages each of you to find a book you’ll enjoy, curl up with it, and get lost in its story as often as you can. 

Miss Soldano

Miss Soldano joined Team 218 in 2008 and is very happy to be teaching here!She does her best to make sure every student has fun learning and feels successful.She is often smiling about the awesome students and accomplishments in Team 218! Miss Soldano loves to travel and learn about different cultures and places in the world.In the summer of 2009, she visited her friend (Team 218’s first pen-pal) Kate in her remote village in Senegal, West Africa and enjoys sharing stories of the trip. Social Studies is her favorite subject and she hopes that her students will share her enthusiasm and curiosity about our diverse world!