Writing in Chorus - Gradual Release of Responsibility

Heather Zimmerman contributed this post. Click here for more of Heather's thinking.
This is part of a series of posts about writing coaching cycles, which include examples from several disciplines.

Have you ever tried to look for literacy examples for your music teachers?  It can be hard to find a lot of ideas.  

During one of my coaching cycles, I worked with our chorus teacher, Eric Britz.  We talked a lot about some of the great things he was doing regarding writing.  He had so many practices already in place.  

At a collaboration session, he shared with staff what gradual release of responsibility looks like in his classroom.  Take a look:

*This was an organizer to get students thinking before they wrote.

*You might notice the lyrics are not in English.  This was intentional.  He noticed students paid more attention to lyrics than to the music.  He decided to help them focus mostly on the music.