RAFTS

Thursday, 22 January 2009

Noblesville High School

Mary B. Nicolini

Penn High School

mbnicolini@phm.k12.in.us

Writing can. . .

• help students sort and select• nudge students to think

critically• make (some) order out of

chaos• make thinking visible

“Writing across the curriculum

isn’t just a method of getting students to write who are afraid of writing. It is also a method of getting students to learn what they were afraid of learning.”

William Zinsser, Writing to Learn

What is a RAFTS?

• Role

• Audience

• Format

• Topic

• Strong Verb

Role: WHO is speaking?

• What do I know about this role? What special language might a person in this role use?

Audience: WHO is listening?

• What do I know about this audience? What information does this audience need to know? What voice would be most appropriate for this audience?

Format: HOW is the speaker delivering the message?

• What do I know about this format? How are ideas typically organized for this format (compare/contrast, chronological order, cause and effect, deductive logic, point-by-point analysis)?

Formats

• advertisements • brochures• case studies• declarations• editorials• fact sheets• interviews

(real/imaginary)• letters

• memos• news stories:

radio/paper/tv• poems• psychiatrists’ notes• sermons• slide show scripts• telegrams• war communiqués

Topic: WHAT is the message?

• What do I know about this topic? What details should I provide for my audience? What questions should I answer for my audience? Where can I go to find more information if I need it (encyclopedias, periodicals, newspapers, Internet, an expert in the field, library, reference manuals)?

Strong Verb: WHAT is the purpose of the message?

• What purpose for my writing does this verb suggest? To inform or explain? To persuade? To describe? To tell a story? To create a new way of seeing things? What key words will make my purpose clear?

Strong Verb

• communicate• contest• diagnose• explain• inform• relate• announce• describe• identify• persuade

• compare• analyze• cajole• clarify• critique• define• design• visualize• summarize• defend

Biology “Mystery Animal”

• Role: Safari tour guideAudience: touristsFormat: scriptTopic: animals they will see on the tourStrong Verb: describe

You are a Safari tour guide for a large tourism company in Africa. Write your script for what you will say to tourists who pay big bucks to take your tour. Describe what animals they will see, but do NOT actually name the animal. Instead, be very descriptive as far as the animal's size, coloring, habitat, diet, reproduction, and other traits we have been studying in biology.

R Journeyman electricianA Apprentice electriciansF Safety brochure T Correct wiring procedures for a 110v 3-

way switchS Educate  You are a Journeyman Electrician that instructs newly hired Apprentices. You are to design a safety brochure educating the apprentices on the proper techniques on wiring a 110v 3-way switch.

Role: Artillery commanderAudience: Combat troopsFormat: Battle planTopic: Parabolic flight of a projectileStrong Verb: Describe As an artillery commander you need to describe to your troops how to use a given quadratic equation of parabolic flight to create a battle plan which will determine how changes in the initial velocity of the projectile will determine the maximum height of the projectile so it can clear the wall of a fort you are trying to shell.

role: filmmakeraudience: communityformat: narration for documentarytopic: a local philanthropiststrong verb: highlight You are a filmmaker creating a documentary about a local philanthropist who has done a lot of good for your community. Write the narration for the opening of the documentary that will highlight her many civic-minded contributions.

role: race car driveraudience: readers of Racing Enthusiast’s Monthlyformat: articletopic: car’s frictionless body style helpedstrong verb: expressing As a race car driver who has just won your first race, write an article for readers of Racing Enthusiast’s Monthly expressing how your car’s frictionless body style helped lead you to victory. Be sure to thank your car designer and your sponsors for their support in making it all possible. 

Why a RAFTS?

• Students need to write it all down to make sense of what they find out through questioning and research.

• We write to make sense of our world; we write to understand how things work; we write to figure things out.

• RAFTS prompts help students not only become better writers but to become better thinkers.

more Why a RAFTS?

• RAFTS go hand-in-hand with the 6 traits of writing.

• Role and Audience help students decide on the voice and word choice.

• Format helps students with organization.• Topic helps students zero in on the ideas. • Strong Verbs direct students to the writing

purpose and help them to write clearly using all the traits.

still more Why a RAFTS?• written from a viewpoint different from the

student’s, to another audience rather than the teacher, and in a form different from the ordinary theme

• require students to use creative thinking as they connect imagination to newly learned information

• give students a fresh way to think about their writing

• can be adjusted for skill level and rigor (great for differentiation)

• are difficult to plagiarize

How to build a RAFTS

• Decide on a concept/idea, a piece of enduring knowledge, a unit: something you know you’ll teach this year.

• Determine role, audience, format, and strong verb to go with topic.

• Partner up with a colleague who teaches the same or similar course, proceed to Writing Center, log in and follow directions at http://writingacrossthecurriculum.wikispaces.com/.

Goal for today

• Write TWO RAFTS with a partner (or alone)

• See specific instructions on handout or at http://writingacrossthecurriculum.wikispaces.com/