RAFT Writing Strategy

Katie BockJill Nowak

Megan Wolf

What is RAFT?

R.A.F.T. is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they’ll be writing about.

By using this strategy, teachers encourage students to write creatively, to consider a topic from a different perspective, and to gain practice writing for different purposes.

What does RAFT stand for?

R: Role of the writer – Who are you as a writer? (President, actor, soldier, etc.)

A: Audience – To whom are you writing? (A company, friend, parent)

F: Format: In what format are you writing? (Journal, editorial, letter)

T: Topic (What are you writing about)?

RAFT examples

Possible Ideas for a RAFTChoose ideas that advance the learning goals.

Characters

from a story

Public service

job

Key terms Scientists or

politicians

Historical

figures

Musical

instruments

Diseases Geographic

formations

Vocabulary

words

Cartoon

characters

Types of

fabric

Composers or

artists

Instruments

or tools

Shapes or

colors

Authors or

inventers

Business or

industry person

Minerals or

chemical

elements

Cities,

countries or

continents

Brand

name or

object

Technical terms

Role Audience Format Topic

G Tortoise Hare 6-panel

storyboard

How I Won the

Race

G You Teacher Bulleted list Things I do in the

morning to get

ready for school

G Sports star Reporter News item Here’s how I got

hurt … and what

I’ll do next

A Cousin You Set of directions Help me learn to

play checkers

A Hermione

Granger

Harry Potter Conversation or

dialogue

What happened to

make you so

suspicious?

A Marble Kid “Marble Raceway”

model with exhibit

card describing

each tumble or

turning point

Watch me roll!

Possible RAFT Formats to Differentiate by

Learning Modality

Written Visual Oral Kinesthetic

Diary entry

Bulleted list

Obituary

Invitation

Recipe

Movie critic

FAQs

Editorial

Gossip

column

Comic

Crossword

puzzle

Map

Graphic

organizer

Print ad

Photograph

Fashion

design

Song

Monologue

Radiocast

Museum

guide

Interview

Puppet show

Political

speech

Story teller

Model

Cheer

Mime

Demonstration

Sales pitch

with demos

Sew, cook,

build

Wax museum

Differentiating a RAFT by Readiness(Teacher assigns RAFT or choices of RAFTs based on students’ reading,

writing or performance levels)

•Roles/Audience

– Well-known people or charters to lesser known

– Basic essential items (vocabulary, inventions,

elements, etc.) to more esoteric items

– Easier to understand point-of-view to more

intangible perspective

•Formats (while offering choices to students)

– Shorter to longer (in prep, process or presentation)

– More familiar to more unfamiliar formats

– Single step to multiple steps

Differentiating a RAFT by Readiness(continued)

• Topics

– Easier to interpret to more sophisticated

– Concrete & literal to more abstract

response

– More structured to more open-ended

– Small leap in insight & application to larger

leap

Activity- Choose One

Role Audience Format Topic

Dwyane Wade LeBron James Conversation Why he made a mistake leaving Miami for

Cleveland.

Justin Bieber Law Enforcement Letter Why the police should drop all charges against

him.

Kim Kardashian Kanye West Poem of at least 8 lines Expressing your love and how it is

everlasting (not just 72 days).

You Dr. Lavoy One schmoozing song/rap

How beneficial this class has been (brownie

points).

Strengths

The writing prompt is authentic and customized to what students are learning at the time.

Creates fluent and purposeful writing for students

It helps students learn important writing skills such as audience, main idea, and organization.

Allows for a deeper understanding of informational text

Helps students learn to write creatively to different audiences while considering a topic from multiple perspectives

Allows students to use higher order thinking strategies, as there are many things to consider (such as how an audience will respond to the statements)

Can be used for all subjects

Weaknesses

Students may struggle when given the opportunity to write freely and creatively

Being able to take a different perspective can be difficult

Extra instruction may be needed to help students write in the form you’re asking them to write

Resources for Teachers

http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/printouts/raft-writing-template-30633.html

https://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com/R.A.F.T.+Assignments (has different formats to differentiate)

http://www.writingfix.com/WAC/Writing_Across_Curriculum_RAFTS_Math.htm

http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/raft

http://www.slideshare.net/ulamb/differentiated-instruction-strategy-raft

Questions?