Planning for Success

For me, The Gradual Release Model is the key to student success with document analysis. The problem is that whether you teach kindergarten or high school seniors, we all struggle with gradual release. Before I came to work for The DBQ Project, I was in charge of the roll-out of a teacher evaluation system based on student performance. I spent countless hours conducting K-12 classroom observations and facilitating post-observations conversations with teachers and administrators.

Over time, distinct patterns emerged. In elementary classrooms, I would see beautiful modeled instruction, seamless transitions to guided instruction, and when students moved to guided practice or collaborative group work in often times looked like magic, but what I saw on rare occasion, was the release to independent practice. When I would ask teachers about independent practice common answers would emerge. “I want the students to feel supported.” “I want students to get it right.” “They are not ready.”

I struggled to come up with a response that would change practice until one day, I came up with an anecdotal tale. Close your eyes an imagine the one teacher on the campus that nobody likes. You get very few days where you can go off campus for lunch, and she is always left behind. As you roll up on the holidays, you start feeling bad and decide to bring her to the group lunch. When you both arrive, everyone looks at you and says they are not inviting you next time. The point is, that you feeling sorry for her is not fixing her problem. Pity isn’t friendship. Pity also isn’t teaching. You feeling sorry for students, believing they are not capable, daily reinforcing that they are not ready is actually a huge part of the problem.

Middle and high school teachers also struggle with gradual release. They just don’t typically struggle with independent practice. Many times talking to six grade teachers when I ask how and when do you incorporate collaborative group that the response has been, “We don’t do collaborative groups.” When I ask why, the responses tend to be along the lines the students aren’t capable of doing collaborative group work.

The commonality of that response is absolutely fascinating to me, especially when you consider that prior to entering middle school, those sixth grade students have probably spent the better part 75% of their academic life in collaborative groups. Nobody has a more vested interest in the success of collaborative group work than the high school chemistry teacher.

Picture a science classroom at your school. They all seem to have posters with a similar message around the room. Put your lab coat on. Tie your hair back. Wear your safety goggles. Don’t chase your partner with a Bunsen burner. The point here is that collaborative group work in science class are labs; and labs have procedures. Think about when the science teacher prepares students for a lab. Do they just pass out the supplies and tell students to follow the rules and procedures and peace out? No, in addition to protocols they provide step by step directions.

My hope is that as we move through this module on document analysis, that elementary teachers will see a way to get to independent work with their first DBQ. Independent does not mean unsupported it means on their own. For secondary teachers, I hope you will see collaborative group work as a productive bridge to independent work and not just something to include because it’s an element on your observation.

• Which document will you model?
  
• Which document will you save for independent practice?
  

As you go through this module, please consider which document would be the most difficult for your students and which document would be the easiest. I also want you to consider which document would be the second easiest.

I generally pace my self two documents a day modeling the most difficult document on the first day of document analysis, followed by collaborative group work on the second most easiest. I will save the easiest document for independent work.

We will next consider the value of forming habits of document analysis to develop thinking routines for your students.

Remember it is not about the DBQ, it is about helping your students make meaning from whatever texts they encounter.

Amie Polcaro

The DBQ Project