Throw Your Writers a Life R.A.F.T.

"But I don't know what to write about?"  

"But I don't want to write about this."

"But writing is stupid."
"Why do I have to be here?"

Do you hear these phrases all too often in your classroom?  Does that last one come out of your mouth at least once a day? Then it's time to throw your writers (and yourself) a life raft!  A Writing R.A.F.T. that is!  

What is a R.A.F.T. you ask?  It's a writing format for your assignments that provides structure, encourages creativity, lends itself well to content integration, and most importantly gives students choice.  

Taken from http://bit.ly/2eFoWte

R.A.F.T. is an acronym.  It stands for: 
R: Role- What point of view will you write from?
A: Audience- Who will you be writing to?
F: Format-  What genre will your piece be written in?
T: Topic-  What will your writing be about?

RAFT Template

So how do you go about building a R.A.F.T. for your students?  Just follow these six steps! It's the easiest R.A.F.T. you'll ever build, I promise!

1.Template: Start with a simple grid.  You can download my version on the right.

2. Objectives: Think about your teaching objectives.  Do you want your students writing about the Civil War?  Photosynthesis?  Curious George? Prime Numbers?  Really any topic will work!

3. Roles: What perspective could your students write from?  If you're writing about the Civil War, you could write as a Union Soldier, Confederate Soldier, a mother back home, a general's horse.  If you're writing about Prime Numbers, maybe you're a 5, an 11, or a confused student.

4. Audience: Consider an audience for each specific role you created.  If you're writing as the number 5, maybe your audience is composite numbers.  If you're writing as a Union Soldier, maybe your audience is your Confederate brother.  If you're stuck, try making your Audience the opposite of your Role for instant interesting writing.

5. Format: For the format, think of creative ways your students could write.  I like to provide three levels, easy, moderate and difficult, so that your struggling writers to your most advanced can choose something challenging. Below are some ideas for formats.  (I would include formats that students are comfortable with, especially for struggling writers.  You can always print a few examples for students to examine and model they're own writing after).

• Friendly Letter
• Twitter Feed
• Facebook Posts
• Blog Post
• Poem
• Interview
• Conversation
• Comic Strip
• Newspaper Article
• Op Ed
• Book Report
• Children's Book
• Essay
• Grocery List
• Note to a Friend
• Report Card
• Menu
• Speech
• Riddles/Jokes
• A Student Created Art Piece with Caption/Paragraph

6. Topic: The Topic will give students the purpose of their writing.  So if I'm writing as the number 5 to a composite number in a Twitter Feed, my Topic may be trying to convince them that having only two factors is easier to manage than three or more.  If I'm writing a letter as a Union Solider, to my Confederate brother, I could be trying to explain to him why my side is the right side to be on.  Start your Topics with a verb like convince, explain, encourage, teach, persuade, argue, etc.  

After you've filled in your R.A.F.T. Template, share with students.  Explain that they should choose one column to write about.  Share some examples of the different formats of writing (make a few copies of appropriate Twitter feeds, share some newspaper articles, bring in grocery lists, etc) if they need a model to guide them.  Let your advanced writers create more than one R.A.F.T.  Make the requirements fit the needs of your class.

Need a full example to help follow along with the instructions?  Download this free Prime and Composite Number R.A.F.T. to try out with your class!  

Be as creative as you like!  Giving your students choices about their writing will increase motivation and provide instant differentiation.  You can pat yourself on the back now!

Happy RAFTING!

Check out a few R.A.F.T.s at my TpT store:

 


What creative R.A.F.T. ideas do you have?