RAFT: Role/Audience/Format/Topic

What is it?

The RAFT strategy (Santa,1988) employs writing-to-learn activities to enhance understanding of informational text. Instead of writing a traditional essay explaining a concept learner, students demonstrate their understanding in a nontraditional format. This technique encourages creative thinking and motivates students to reflect in unusual ways about concepts they have read. RAFT is an acronym that stands for :

· Role of the writer: What is the writer's role: reporter, observer, eyewitness, object, number,etc.?

· Audience: Who will be reading the writing: the teacher, other students, a parent, editor, people in the community, etc.?

· Format: What is the best way to present this writing: in a letter, an article, a report, a poem, an advertisement, e-mail, etc.?

· Topic: Who or what is the subject of this writing: a famous scientist, a prehistoric cave dweller, a character from literature, a chemical element or physical object, etc.?

The RAFT strategy forces students to process information, rather than merely write out answers to questions. Students are more motivated to undertake the writing assignment because it addresses various learning styles.

How could it be used in instruction?
This writing-to-learn strategy engages students in explaining what they know about a topic and elaborating on the topic in a fun way.

How to use it:

1. Think about the concepts or process that you want students to learn as they read a selected passage. Consider how writing in a fun way may enhance students' understanding of the topic.
2. Brainstorm possible roles students could assume in their writing.
3. Decide who the audience would be as well as the format for writing.
4. After students have finished reading, identify the role, audience, format and topic (RAFT) for the writing. Assign the same role for all students, or let them choose from several different roles.

Examples of RAFT Assignments

Role	Audience	Format	Topic
Newspaper Reporter	Readers in the 1870's	Obituary	Qualities of General Custer
Lawyer	U.S. Supreme Court	Appeal Speech	Dred Scott Decision
Abraham Lincoln	Dear Abby	Advice Column	Problems with his generals
Mike Royko	Public	News Column	Capital punishment
Frontier Woman	Self	Diary	Hardships of the West
Constituent	U.S. Senator	Letter	Gun control
News Writer	Public	News Release	Ozone layer has been formed
Chemist	Chemical company	Instructions	Combinations to avoid
Wheat Thin	Other Wheat Thins	Travel Guide	Journey through the digestive system
Plant	Sun	Thank-you note	Sun's role in plant's growth
Scientist	Charles Darwin	Letter	Refute a point in evolution theory
Square Root	Whole Number	Love letter	Explain relationship
Repeating Decimal	Set of Rational Numbers	Petition	Prove you belong to this set
Cook	Other cooks	Recipe	Alcoholism
Julia Child	TV audience	Script	Wonders of eggs
Advertiser	TV audience	Public Service	Importance of fruit
Lungs	Cigarettes	Complaint	Effects of smoking
Huck Finn	Jim	Letter	What I learned during the trip
Joseph Stalin	George Orwell	Letter	Reactions to Animal Farm
Comma	9th grade students	Complaint	How it is misused
Trout	Self	Diary	Effects of acid rain on lake

RAFT Examples for Math

Role	Audience	Format	Topic
Zero	Whole numbers	Campaign speech	Importance of the number 0
Scale factor	Architect	Directions for a blueprint	Scale drawings
Percent	Student	Tip sheet	Mental ways to calculate percents
Repeating decimal	Customers	Petition	Proof/check for set membership
Prime number	Rational numbers	Instructions	Rules for divisibility
Parts of a graph	TV audience	Script	How to read a graph
Exponent	Jury	Instructions to the jury	Laws of exponents
One	Whole numbers	Advice column	Perfect, abundant, deficient, amicable numbers
Variable	Equations	Letter	Role of variables
Container	Self	Diary	Comparing volume measurements
Acute triangle	Obtuse triangle	Letter	Explain differences of triangles
Function	Relations	Article	Argue the importance of functions

RAFT Examples for Science

Role	Audience	Format	Topic
Water drop	Other water drops	Travel guide	Journey through water cycle
Bean	Self	Diary	Process of germination
Frog	Tadpole	Letter	Life cycle
Electron	Fourth grade students	Letter	Journey through a parallel circuit
Limestone rock	Cave visitors	Postcard	Chemical weathering process
Statue	Dear Abby readers	Advice column	Effect of acid rain
Trout	Farmers	Letter	Effects of fertilizer runoff
Duck	U.S. Senator	Letter	Effects of oil spill
Star	Self	Diary	Life cycle
Peregrine falcon	Public	News column	Effects of DDT
Red blood cell	Lungs	Thank-you note	Journey through circulatory system
Liver	Alcohol	Complaint	Effects of drinking
Lungs	Brain	Thank-you note	Quitting smoking
Rusty old car	Previous owner	Letter	Chemical change

RAFT Examples for Social Studies

Role	Audience	Format	Topic
Sacajawea	Jean Baptiste	Letter	Our travels with Lewis and Clark
Newspaper Reporter	Readers in 1851	News report	Native Americans sign treaty at Ft. Laramie
Dead Confederate Soldier	Robert E. Lee	Complaint	Pickett's Charge
Bird	Wright Brothers	Complaint	New invention disrupts skies
21st Century Woman	Susan B. Anthony	Thank-you note	Women's Rights
Alexander the Great	Aristotle	Letter	What I have seen on my journeys
Ben Franklin	Dear Abby	Advice column	My son likes the British
Kaiser Wilhelm II	European Heads of State	Recipe	How we can start a World War
Kit Carson	Future tourists	Travel guide	Beautiful places in the West
Mohandas Gandhi	Martin Luther King Jr.	Letter	Nonviolent opposition/resistence
Great Wall of China	Self	Diary	Invaders I have seen and stopped
Colorado River	Rafters	Travel guide	What you will see if you travel my length
Rain Forest	Humans	Complaint	Deforestation
Constituent	Governor	Letter	State taxes
21st Century American	James Madison	Thank-you note	The Constitution