R.A.F.T. Writing Strategy
R.A.F.T. (role, audience, format, topic)
Purpose:
R.A.F.T is a system for making sure students understand their role as writer, their audience, the format of their work, and the expected content of their writing. It provides an easy, meaningful way to incorporate writing into content-area instruction. Practically all RAFT assignments are written from a viewpoint other than that of a student. They are usually written to an audience other than the teacher. They take a form other than students would write as a standard essay. Seldom is the word "write" used as a R.A.F.T. verb These four key ingredients are included in every R.A.F.T writing assignment:
R: Role of Writer--Who are you? a principal, Beethoven, a human heart? an artist? A castle in France? An Aztec calendar? (Can be people, objects, etc.)
A: Audience--To whom is this written? a business, a scientist, a lawyer? an artist? a museum? your dog? (Can be people, objects, etc.)
F: Format--What form will it take? a letter, a memo, an obituary, a poem, a journal, etc.?
T: Topic + strong verb--What is your topic? What strong verb will help you present your topic? Choose a strong verb to describe your intent: persuade a corporation to accept your invention; demand payment for an injury; write a critique for a film, argue a point, complain
Procedure for teacher:
Step 1: Explain that all writers need to consider four components of every composition: role of writer, audience, format and topic.
Step 2: Brainstorm ideas about a topic. Select several topics from those mentioned
Step 3: Create R.A.F.T. activities and list possible roles, audiences, formats, and strong verbs that are appropriate for each topic.
Step 4: Give students some examples to write about; or after discussing a topic, have students create their own RAFT writing assignment.
Some suggestions for Roles and/or Audiences for Writers
ad agencies, administrators, artists, athletes, authors, businesses, cartoonists, musicians, characters in a book, businesses, customer, doctors, drama clubs, ecologists, editors, food item, furniture in a painting or house, historians, historical figures, journalists, kings, museums, parents, pen pals, politicians, principal, poets, queens, scientists, singers, sports equipment, sports figure, etc.
Some Possible Formats for Writing
abstract for an article, advertisement, advice, application, brochures, cartoons, commercial, editorial, e-mail message, essay, eulogy, fable, Farewell, Fiction, flyers, inquiry, interviews, invitation, legal brief, letters, map and directions, memos, menu, metaphors, mission statement for an organization, monologue, news story, obituary, pamphlets, postcards, riddles, skits, slogans, song, story, thank you notes, warning, will, written debates, song, petition, poetry, posters, public notice, requests, resume, reviews, etc.,
Some Possible Strong Action Verbs
reprimand, clarify, describe, demand, convince, defend, justify, prioritize, advertise, criticize, persuade, argue, critique, solve, complain, design, hypothesize, apologize, promise, predict, etc.