RAFT
1. What is RAFT?
Role, Audience, Format, Topic (RAFT) is a writing strategy that helps students to understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats of writing and the topic they will be writing about. RAFT assignments encourage students to be creative in their writing. The RAFT strategy encourages students to write creatively, think about topics from multiple perspectives and gain the ability to write for different audiences (Using the RAFT Strategy, n.d., RAFT, n.d.). Students learn to respond to various writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives:
-Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? A plant?
-Audience: To whom are you writing? Yourself? A company?
-Format: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper? A love letter? A speech?
-Topic: What are you writing about?
2. Why would I teach this strategy?
I would teach this strategy as a way to teach students different ways of writing. It is an opportunity for students to use their imagination to respond to newly learned information. It is a structured way to allow students more creativity when they write. I would teach this strategy to students when I would like them to consider different perspectives or viewpoints of a topic. Using RAFT is also effective in helping to organize a student’s writing. This is also a strategy that is not limited to language arts, RAFT can be used across the content areas.
3. How would I teach this strategy? (Step by step directions)
This can be used as a before reading, during reading or after reading assignment. It is adaptable that it can be used with the whole class, small groups or individually. I would use this instructional strategy after completing a unit as a post test to assess their understanding. One idea would be to use RAFT after completing a unit in science about the life cycle of a butterfly. This activity will be completed individually.
First, on a SMARTboard, overhead, or chart paper I would introduce and display a completed RAFT example.
Next, I will define each element (role, audience, format, topic) using simple examples. I will write the definitions on chart paper so the students have something to refer to.
The class will brainstorm and come up with examples of different roles we could be, who are our audience would be, what type of format we’d use, and what topics we could write about.
For the purpose of this specific lesson everyone will have the same prompt and together we would fill out and redefine the elements for the assignment Role-Who are we? Butterflies!, Audience- who are we addressing?- ourself, Format- diary entry, Topic- Emerging from the chrysalis!
I will explain to the students they are going to have to write a pretend journal/diary entry as if they were a butterfly about what it was like when they emerged from the chrysalis.
Allow students time to write then the students can share their journal entries with the class. This will expose the students to the different types of writing other students did.
Credit to: Heather Engel
1. What is RAFT?
Role, Audience, Format, Topic (RAFT) is a writing strategy that helps students to understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats of writing and the topic they will be writing about. RAFT assignments encourage students to be creative in their writing. The RAFT strategy encourages students to write creatively, think about topics from multiple perspectives and gain the ability to write for different audiences (Using the RAFT Strategy, n.d., RAFT, n.d.). Students learn to respond to various writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives:
-Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? A plant?
-Audience: To whom are you writing? Yourself? A company?
-Format: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper? A love letter? A speech?
-Topic: What are you writing about?
2. Why would I teach this strategy?
I would teach this strategy as a way to teach students different ways of writing. It is an opportunity for students to use their imagination to respond to newly learned information. It is a structured way to allow students more creativity when they write. I would teach this strategy to students when I would like them to consider different perspectives or viewpoints of a topic. Using RAFT is also effective in helping to organize a student’s writing. This is also a strategy that is not limited to language arts, RAFT can be used across the content areas.
3. How would I teach this strategy? (Step by step directions)
This can be used as a before reading, during reading or after reading assignment. It is adaptable that it can be used with the whole class, small groups or individually. I would use this instructional strategy after completing a unit as a post test to assess their understanding. One idea would be to use RAFT after completing a unit in science about the life cycle of a butterfly. This activity will be completed individually.
First, on a SMARTboard, overhead, or chart paper I would introduce and display a completed RAFT example.
Next, I will define each element (role, audience, format, topic) using simple examples. I will write the definitions on chart paper so the students have something to refer to.
The class will brainstorm and come up with examples of different roles we could be, who are our audience would be, what type of format we’d use, and what topics we could write about.
For the purpose of this specific lesson everyone will have the same prompt and together we would fill out and redefine the elements for the assignment Role-Who are we? Butterflies!, Audience- who are we addressing?- ourself, Format- diary entry, Topic- Emerging from the chrysalis!
I will explain to the students they are going to have to write a pretend journal/diary entry as if they were a butterfly about what it was like when they emerged from the chrysalis.
Allow students time to write then the students can share their journal entries with the class. This will expose the students to the different types of writing other students did.
Credit to: Heather Engel