RAFT Writing Strategy
Strategy #35 by Stephanie Long
What Is It?
"RAFT is a writing strategy that helps students understand their roles as writers, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about."
Role of the Writer: Who or what are you as the writer? A princess? A soldier? The President?
Audience: To whom are you writing? A friend? Your teacher? Readers of a newspaper?
Format: In what format are you writing? A letter? A poem? A speech?
Topic and strong verb: What are you writing about? Why? What's the subject or the point?
Why use RAFT?
- It shows students how to write from different view points
- It helps students learn key writing details they need to include, like audience, main idea, and organization
- It encourages students to get more creative with their writing
- It can be used for several content areas
How to Use RAFT
- Teach about each of the different sections on the graphic organizer to be filled out
- Model how to fill in and give details for each section
- Have the students complete the different RAFT sections
- Can be completed individually, in small groups, or as a whole class
- Can be completed before, during, or after a reading
Common Core Standards
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.3
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details and well-structured event sequences.
CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.CCRA.W.4
Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience.
Resources
- Reading Rockets, RAFT. http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/raft
- Tompkins, G. E. (2012). 50 Literacy Strategies: Step-by-Step (4th ed.). Upper Saddle River: Pearson.
- RAFT Writing. http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19783/