R.A.F.T. WRITING Role/Audience/Format/Topic

 RAFT Writing is simply a way to think about the four main things that all writers have to consider:  Role of the Writer Who are you as the writer? Are you Abraham Lincoln? A warrior? A homeless person? An auto mechanic? The endangered snail darter?  Audience To whom are you writing? Is your audience the American people? A friend? Your teacher? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank?  Format What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? A classified ad? A speech? A poem?  Topic What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade a goddess to spare your life? To plead for a re-test? To call for stricter regulations on logging?

Incorporate strong verbs to set the tone of your response. - Admonish, accuse, welcome, pester - Congratulate, pacify, insult, flatter - Interpret, justify, urge, attack - Define, demand, discourage, deny - Scare, inquire, harass, evaluate - Condemn, advise, plea, formulate - Etc.

RoleAudienceFormatTopic A black catTrick-or treatersa letter of complaintwhy am I treated so unfairly over a silly superstition? A jack-o-lanternTrick-or treatersa persuasive letterDon’t smash me or fill me with shaving cream A pumpkinChildrenFlyerDon’t rip my insides out and carve me up Your stomachTrick-or treatersLetter of complaintCandy upsets us! A smart pumpkinOther pumpkinsInstructionsDisguise yourself and don’t be picked and carved for Halloween A broomThe witchLetter of resignationI’m a cleaner – not a flyer! TeethTrick-or treatersBrochureToo much candy gives us cavities! Search EngineInternet usersWeb pageInform internet users what you do

 Role – British soldier sent to the New World  Audience – Parliament  Format - Persuasive letter  Topic – Appeal to go home

25 New World Street Boston, Massachusetts December 5, 1777 Dear Parliament, Why did you send us over to the New World? The colonists are not happy with us. They are demanding independence. When we walk down the road, people laugh at us. They hate us. They do not like when we sleep in their houses and eat their food and wear their clothes. Even the children make silly faces at us. They throw rocks and snowballs at us. When can we come home? Most of us are ready to leave and we miss our families. When are you going to respond? Please make it soon. Respectfully, The British Infantry

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

WrittenVisualOralKinesthetic Diary entry Bulleted list Obituary Invitation Recipe Movie critic FAQs Editorial Gossip column Comic Crossword puzzle Map Graphic organizer Print ad Photograp h Fashion design Song Monologue Radiocast Museum guide Interview Puppet show Political speech Story teller Model Cheer Mime Demonstratio n Sales pitch with demos Sew, cook, build Wax museum

 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

The RAFT Chart Development Options - Teacher creates all components of chart - Teacher creates some of the columns of chart and students plug in options for other columns - Students work to generate all parts of the chart with teacher parameters

Sample RAFT Sketch #1: R = Tennis Shoe A = teen who wears the same shoe s everyday F = farewell letter T = stop wearing me so much(explanation )

 Dear Claude, I've been forced to sit in this junk yard for the past year. Every day I've had to face the loss of more and more body parts until there is almost nothing left of me. But tomorrow, my time is up; I'm scheduled to be compacted, so I have to write this letter now. It is hard for me to say this, but I think you need to know you are a real jerk! I gave you the best years of my life, and how did you treat me? You refused to change my oil on a regular basis. (I get cranky when I have a dirty crankcase!) You always fed me the cheapest fuel, never letting me have any fuel containing detergents to help keep my parts clean. You constantly slammed on the brakes, wearing the treads from my tires. You never checked my tire pressure. I had to work extra hard to move with such low pressure in my tires. Do you know how much gas money you wasted over the years by driving on underinflated tires? You never gave me a lube job even though I was constantly screaming for one. I tried so hard to do my best, but you did not lift a finger to help. Oh, no! Here it comes, the big crunch! I've reached the end of my road....CRUNCH!