1. Sequencing and Scaffolding Instruction
A Gradual Release of Responsibility Model
Sarah King Veigel, Ninth Grade English, North Junior High
Debbie Moore Foster, Curriculum Director, Compass Charter School
Boise State Writing Project Teacher Consultants

2. How Do We Learn? Think about something you learned to do?
Why did you want to learn it?
How did you learn it?
How did you know you learned it?
Presenter shares with participants an example of how we learned to do something…
Activity Suggestions:
Have participants share at their tables how they learned something as a child (ride a bike, drive a car, use a computer, play a game, etc.)

3. Essential Questions to Guide Our Work…
When and how is teaching most powerfully enacted? Under what conditions does learning most powerfully occur?
How can the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model build capacity in my students as learners?
How do I sequence instruction to effectively transfer the load of cognitive complexity over to my students?
What are effective scaffolding techniques to use with my students as I transfer responsibility for learning and knowledge over to them?

4. Gradual Release of Responsibility: an Effective Delivery Model
“The gradual release of responsibility model of instruction stipulates that the teacher moves from assuming “all the responsibility for performing a task…to a situation in which the students assume all of the responsibility.”
Pearson and Gallagher suggest that this cognitive load shifts slowly and purposefully from the teacher to the student. The teacher starts by directly explaining, thinking aloud, and modeling for the students. The model next moves to joint responsibility between the teacher and students, followed by independent practice by the students and eventually application by the learner. This gradual process may take place over a day, a week, a month, or a year.
Note to presenter: Gradual Release of Responsibility is one of several effective delivery models (e.g. Five “Es,”, Direct, Explicit Instruction, and the Constructivist model).
Duke and Pearson, 2002, p. 211

5. A Model for Success for All Students
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided Instruction
“We do it”
“You do it
together”
Collaborative
“You do it
alone”
Independent
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
A Model for Success for All Students
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

6. But…

7. In some classrooms … TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY “I do it” Focus Lesson
“You do it
alone”
Independent
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

8. And… In the worst classrooms …
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
(none)
“You do it
alone”
Independent
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual
release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

9. And Still… In the “Good Enough” Classroom
TEACHER RESPONSIBILITY
“I do it”
Focus Lesson
Guided Instruction
“We do it”
“You do it
alone”
Independent
STUDENT RESPONSIBILITY
Fisher, D., & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching: A framework for the gradual
release of responsibility. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

10. Just “Getting the Job Done” is not enough.

11. Clarifying Some Terms…
What is sequencing?
What is scaffolding?
What’s the difference between the two?

12. Principles of Sequencing
From…
To…
Easy
Hard
Immediate
Imagined
Close to Home
Far From Home
Familiar
Unfamiliar
Oral
Written
Concrete
Abstract
Visually, visually supported
Textual
Short
Long
Stated
Implied and Inferred
Collaborative and Socially Supported
Individual and Independently Maintained
Scaffolded and Assisted Activity
Independent Activity

13. Framework for Implementing the Gradual Release of Responsibility Model:
Focus Lesson
Guided instruction
Collaborative Learning
Independent Experiences

14. Lesson Delivery Sequence
Focus Lesson
How will I focus my students on what they need to learn? How will I show my students what they are expected to do?
Guided Practice
How will I help my students practice? How will I differentiate instruction?
Collaborative learning
How will I incorporate collaborative structures?
Independent Practice
How will my students become independent learners? How will they demonstrate independence?

15. Focus Lessons:
“I DO”

16. “I DO” Focus Lessons Types of Focus Lessons:
Explicit/Direct Instruction
Modeling
Think Alouds
Metacognitive Processing

17. “I DO” … Explicit Instruction
What: Tell students specifically what strategies, concepts, or essential learning they are going to learn.
Why: Tell them why it is important for them to learn the strategies, concepts, or essential learning.
How: Tell students how to use the strategies, concepts, or essential learning.
When: Tell students when they will use the strategy, concept, or essential learning.

18. Explicit Instruction is…
Introducing the
What
Why
How
When
Making connections to previous learning
Setting a purpose for learning
Introducing key vocabulary

19. Explicit Instruction is not…
Giving directions
Lecturing
Assigning Worksheets
Assigning reading
Asking questions

20. “I DO”…Modeled Instruction
Select examples aligned with guided practice, independent practice, and assessment.
Demonstrate how to complete examples step by step.
Verbalize thinking
teacher think-a-loud
forming mental pictures,
connecting information to prior knowledge,
creating analogies,
clarifying confusing points, and/or
making/revising predictions.

21. Modeled Instruction is…
Demonstrating the strategy or skill
Thinking aloud (how and why)
Thinking through the process
Students observing and listening

22. Modeled Instruction is not…
Extending direct instruction
Lecturing
Asking questions and students answering (I.R.E. Model—Initiate, Respond, Evaluate.)
Students working or using the strategy
Showing an end product without demonstrating the process

23. Is This Modeling?
Teacher: Why did Lewis and Clark want to explore the West? (Initiate)
Student 1: To discover California (Respond)
Teacher: Well, not really. (Evaluate) What do others think? (Initiate)
Student 2: To get some gold? (Respond)
Teacher: No, not yet. (Evaluate) Before the Gold Rush, why did Lewis and Clark want to explore? (Initiate)
Too often students are questioned about things they don’t understand and have not been provided with the examples they need to order to be successful. Often teachers ask students questions for which the teacher already knows the answers. In 1988 Cazden referred to this as I-R-E. A typical sequence of instruction , in the absence of teacher modeling, might go something like this:
Bring up the first teacher question.
Continue to bring up each answer and then response.
What does the teacher do with the first question? Bring up the word ‘initiate”.
What does student 1 do? Bring up the word “respond”
What is the teacher doing when she says, ”Well, not really.”? Bring up the word “respond”.
Continue with the other lines.
Clearly the students do not know the answer the teacher for which the teacher is searching.
Fisher & Frey, 2008

24. Let’s think about this text
The Object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river & such principal stream of it as by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.
Using a gradual release of responsibility model, the teacher would first model his or her thinking, probably from a piece of text. Consider the difference when I model this text for you:
(Presenter needs to deliver a think aloud without reading it. Presenter may want to fly in appropriate text markings as he models the Think Aloud.)
EXAMPLE THINK ALOUD: “This is a letter that President Thomas Jefferson wrote on June 20, 1803, to Meriwether Lewis. I notice that he capitalizes the word “object”. I wonder if he wants to stress the importance of what he is asking them to do. When he says, “and such principal stream of it”, I think he means the tributaries, or other rivers that run into the Missouri River. It sounds like he is interested in a water route across the United States when he says “may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent.” His last phrase, “for the purpose of commerce” tells me that he wants them to explore the rivers to find a direct way to conduct commerce, or business, between different parts of the country.” I also noticed some other strange things about the capitalization and the spelling of the word “principal”. If I did not know that this was a letter written by President Jefferson, I would still suspect that it was written a long time ago because of these differences.
Fisher & Frey, 2008

25. Modeling might sound like:
The Object of your mission is to explore the Missouri river
“This is a letter that President Thomas Jefferson wrote on June 20, 1803, to Meriwether Lewis. I notice that he capitalizes the word “object”. I wonder if he wants to stress the importance of what he is asking them to do.

26. & such principal stream of it as by it’s course and communication with the waters of the Pacific ocean, whether the Columbia, Oregon, Colorado or any other river may offer the most direct & practicable water communication across this continent for the purpose of commerce.
When he says, “and such principal stream of it”, I think he means the tributaries, or other rivers that run into the Missouri River. It sounds like he is interested in a water route across the United States when he says “may offer the most direct and practicable water communication across this continent.”

27. His last phrase, “for the purpose of commerce” tells me that he wants them to explore the rivers to find a direct way to conduct commerce, or business, between different parts of the country.” I also noticed some other strange things about the capitalization and the spelling of the word “principal”. If I did not know that this was a letter written by President Jefferson, I would still suspect that it was written a long time ago because of these differences.

28. Explicit & Modeled Instruction (I Do)
Teacher Behavior:
Initiates
Models
Explains
Thinks aloud
Shows how to do it
Learner Behavior:
Listens
Observes
Creates an example based on teacher model

29. Guided Instruction:
“WE DO”

30. “WE DO”… Practice with feedback
Provide guided practice with feedback so students have opportunity to practice desired learning.
An opportunity for each student to demonstrate grasp of new learning by working through an activity or exercise under the teacher’s direct supervision.

31. Guided Practice Formats
Collaborative Structures
Cooperative Learning Groups
Cooperative Pairs
Working Individually with a student

32. Guided Practice
Select examples aligned with independent practice and assessment.
Start guided practice with teacher-led question and answer practice.
Ask higher order questions requiring explanation with “Student Accountable Talk” or “Student Think-a-Loud” to justify thinking and explain logic.
Incorporate Collaborative Structures for additional practice with peer support.
Conduct Checks for Understanding throughout the lesson.

33. Guided Practice is… Doing it together
Bridging instruction to independence
Working together in whole or small groups
Differentiating instruction
Checking for understanding
Facilitating the skill development
Responding to student needs

34. Student Accountable Talk
Ask higher order questions requiring explanation with “Student Accountable Talk” or “Student Think-a-Loud” to justify thinking and explain logic.
Ask “Why” and “Why Not” questions
Use Higher Order Thinking question stems
Scaffold questions to reach higher order thinking
Allow students’ extended time to prepare responses
Require use of content specific vocabulary
Reference vocabulary acquisition tools (interactive word wall, lesson vocabulary on whiteboard, foldables, skill process posters, etc.)

35. Checks for Understanding
Conduct Checks for Understanding throughout the lesson.
Thumbs Up/Down/Middle
White Board Responses
Response Cards
Student Accountable Talk
Journal Responses
Cornell Notes Summaries
Board Races
Exit Tickets

36. Guided Practice is not…
Working independently without teacher support
Working in pairs or groups without teacher support
Supporting every student the same

37. Guided Practice Teacher Behaviors Student Behaviors Demonstrates Leads
Suggests
Explains
Responds
Acknowledges
Answers Questions
Student Behaviors
Listens
Interacts
Questions
Collaborates
Responds
Tries out
Participates

38. Collaborative Learning
“YOU DO IT TOGETHER”

39. Collaborative Learning IS:
Engagement in meaningful tasks to support ongoing learning
Positive interdependence
An opportunity for face to face Interactions
A time for individual and group accountability
Meaningful group processing on progress

40. Collaborative Structures
Pair and Square Quads
Reciprocal Teaching
Literature Circles/Book Clubs
Labs and Simulations
Jigsaw
Rally Table
Pairs Check
Numbered Heads Together
Talking Chips
Team-Pair-Solo

41. Collaborative Learning is NOT
A time to introduce new information
“Group Work” in which a single product is produced by the group
Ability Grouping
Independent seatwork

42. Independent Learning Tasks
“YOU DO IT ALONE”

43. “YOU DO”… Independent Practice
Through Independent Practice, students have a chance to reinforce skills and synthesize their new knowledge by completing a task on their own away from the teacher’s guidance.
About.com: Elementary Education Independent Practice.
The New York Times Company.
Available on-line:

44. Independent Learning is
“You Do” (student)
A transition from guided practice and collaborative learning
Students working on their own, in pairs, or small groups to accomplish task
Teacher monitoring for understanding
Teacher providing specific feedback about progress
Note: Teacher monitoring might include
Observation, discussions, conferences, writing, quizzes, listening in, projects, rubrics, checklists, presentations, journals, post test, debate, essay, self/peer assessment.

45. Independent Learning is not…
Right after explicit instruction
Students working on assignment without prior instruction
Working in a small group with a teacher
Summative assessment
Work unrelated to the learning objective

46. What does it look like? Summarize Writing Activity Compare/Contrast
Cornell Notes
Gist
Concept Maps
QAR
The Most Important Thing
Writing Activity
Journal
Learning Logs
Short Response
Essay
Raft
Venn-Diagram

47. Independent Learning Student Behavior Teacher Behavior
Applies learning
Takes charge
Practices
Problem solves
Approximates
Self-corrects
Teacher Behavior
Scaffolds
Validates
Teaches as needed
Evaluates
Observes
Encourages
Clarifies
Confirms
Coaches

48. Gradual Release of Responsibility
Explicit Instruction
Modeled Instruction
Guided Practice
Collaboration
Independent
Practice
Gradual Release of Responsibility

49. Resources
Fisher, D. (2007) Improving adolescent literacy: Content area strategies at work. Digital writing, digital teaching: Integrating new literacies into the teaching of writing. Available online: fishers-improving-adolescent-literacy-strategies-at-work/
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2008). Better learning through structured teaching. Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD).
Fisher & Frey (2008). Fisher&Frey resources. Retrieved February 10, 2010, from
Wilhelm, J., Baker, T., & Hackett, J. (2001). Strategic reading: Guiding students to lifelong literacy Boynton/Cook Publishers Inc.