Last week was a special one at Strawberry Creek for our 4th and 5th grade students as we celebrated our much-loved Read-a-thon tradition! The week was filled with creativity, inspiration, and a whole lot of reading joy.

Students kicked off the week by making tiny books—miniature masterpieces filled with big imagination. We also had fun decorating and bedazzling favorite books, turning beloved stories into dazzling works of art. A huge highlight was getting to meet two incredible guest authors: Kate O’Shaughnessy, who shared about her book The Wrong Way Home and gave us a behind-the-scenes look into the process of writing and publishing a book; and Katryn Bury, author of We Are Not Alone, who inspired us with her storytelling and insights into the writing life.

Thank you to all the families who donated books for our Book Swap! Because of your generosity, students were able to choose from a wide range of gently used and well-loved books—helping each of us grow our reading lives with new stories to explore.

This week, our learning continued with hands-on science explorations as we deepened our understanding of the Earth and Sun. Students tracked their shadow lengths and directions throughout the day, making careful observations to better understand how the sun moves across our sky. We even created our own sun trackers and practiced using a compass.

In writing, students are hard at work on an argumentative writing project where they are crafting essays on what they believe to be the most important invention of modern times. From the internet to the printing press, our young thinkers have been researching, paraphrasing information, and learning how to pull and cite quotes from credible sources. They’ve also begun assembling their bibliographies—a big step in developing academic writing skills. Soon, they’ll bring it all together to make a strong case for their chosen invention.