This week we completed a Close Reading unit on the moon phases.  Close reading requires the reader to read closely to determine what the text says explicitly.  In this unit we read several books about the moon and then analyzed and compared two texts at a more in-depth level.  Our research question was: When you look at the Moon, how does the shape seem to change over time?  Our lessons combined observation and work with nonfiction texts and was designed to help students observe patterns of change and understand that although the shape of the Moon appears to change, it really remains the same.  This unit required the students to ask questions, develop and use models, analyze and interpret data and obtain, evaluate and communicate information.  At the conclusion of the unit the students had to reconstruct the pattern of how the Moon appears to change over time.  It was thrilling to watch the students independently organize and label the moon phases with most students needing no help at all.  This was an amazing unit that integrated science into the languages arts while teaching the students how to analyze non-fiction text.