Gradual Release of Responsibility

I am close to 15 pages into Reading with Meaning by Debbie Miller, and I've already had some pretty big "aha" moments. The main one is changing how I look at the Gradual Release of Responsibility model.


I used to have a print-out of this behind my desk:
1. I do, you watch.
2. I do, you help.
3. You do, I help.
4. You do, I watch.


I loved this. AND it fell so nicely into my weekly lesson plan:
Monday - I do, you watch.
Tuesday - I do, you help.
Wednesday - You do, I help.
Thursday - You do, I watch.
Friday - Assessment of what you do.


After seeing Debbie Miller at the Springboro Literacy Conference, and reading the first pages, I will be changing the way I teach strategies, AND the way I look at this model.


In her book, Debbie talks about taking 6 to 8 weeks to teach a strategy. I was taking one. WHAT WAS I THINKING? I was teaching many, many different strategies throughout the year using my one-week release of responsibility lesson outline. After listening to Debbie, Steph Harvey, and Cris Tovani at the conference and reading this book, I have definitely changed the way I will teach the strategies and the time I will take to do so.


Debbie takes David Pearson's steps, and outlines them like this:
1. Teacher modeling and explanation of a strategy.
2. Guided practice, where teachers gradually give students more responsibility for task completion.
3. Independent practice accomplished by feedback.
4. Application of the strategy in real reading situations.


How did I get such a butchered, simplistic version of this? There are no short-cuts! 


Miller pointed out that Pearson never meant for the release model to be done in exactly this order, every single time. There should be a catch and release of the model -- possibly all in one day, not a systematic escalation, day-by-day throughout one week. It should be an artistic dance throughout the day, week, and unit of teaching.


How do you use the Gradual Release of Responsibility in your classroom?