RAFT and a chicken dinner

Hi y’all…

Have you heard of/used RAFT?
RAFT is an acronym for Role, Audience, Format, Topic.  It’s an awesome writing process that is mostly used in grades 3 and higher.  It’s a different way to get kids to write and show their learning!

Here’s how it works:

Role-Think of a role you could have as a writer.  Similar to point of view, the role will become the voice of the paper.  George Washington, a ladybug, a teacher are some examples of possible roles.

Audience- This is who you are writing to.  The audience can be an individual or a group or people. Congress, an aphid, or students could all an audience.

Format- This is the HOW of the paper.  How do you want your students to relay the message.  A letter, speech, diary entry, brochure, want-ad are different types of formats.  The possibilities are endless.

Topic- What will be covered in the writing?  The topic is usually accompanied by a verb.  Describing, evaluating, persuading…

Still with me?

Here’s the next step… I found a great clozed sentence on the web and used it with my kiddos to help them better understand what RAFT is all about.

As a ___(role)____, write/make a ___(format)____ to ___(audience)  telling/asking/describing (etc.) _____(topic)_____.

Since we are learning about plants, I decided to use that as my focus and fill in the blanks with the kids.  Here is our sentence:

As a seed, fruit, vegetable, or flower make a poster to a Gardener describing why he/she should buy you over any other seed, fruit, vegetable or flower in the store.

So that’s a picture of the chart we made as we talked about RAFT.  Before I let the kiddos go and try it out, I had them close their eyes and imagine what kind of seed/vegetable/flower they wanted to be.  I told them to think of all the great things about that plant and why they are the very best!  The first couple of kids I called on weren’t sure how to answer the why part of the question.  Until I called on one little boy.  He decided he would be a red apple.  I told him (as the Gardener) I don’t really like red apples so I don’t know if I want to buy you…why should I buy you?  He replied…”Well, you don’t have to eat me…you could cut me up and bake me in a pie!”

DONE! SOLD!  After that, they all understood the project and got right
to work!  I encouraged them to write the words BUY ME! in big letters at
the top of their poster as an attention grabber.  Check out how awesome
they did!  Remember this is our FIRST attempt!

 This darling decided to be dandelion and wrote that “People love wishes” and 
“You can make a wish on me”
 This is a mango.  You should buy him because, “I’m yummy!”
 I apologize…this one is upside down and I don’t know how to flip it!  It’s an orange and you should buy him because “I am juicy (jose!)
 A pineapple can cool you down!

I love this one because he wrote pros and cons.  He choose a peach and you should buy him because “I am healthy…but I have seeds!”

So awesome! I was super proud of them!  I can’t wait to try this again.  I think it’s a great end of unit assessment.  It’s automatically differentiated…it’s creative…engaging…and fun!

Let me know if you have any questions about RAFT…I’ll post each time I do it with my kiddos! I’d love to hear from you if you have tried it out in your room.  How did it go?

And now…the Winner Winner Chicken Dinner!!

On my last post I asked y’all to comment on thematic teaching.  I loved hearing your responses. Seems that most of us love thematic teaching! It’s a great way to pull everything together.  I asked Mr. Roboto to choose a number between 1-6 and he picked….

5
Rikki you are the lucky winner! 
Please email me at thetututeacher@gmail.com, and I will send the full packet!
I added a couple of things to the packet. Here a few pics…I’ll be uploading it to TpT this weekend so keep an eye out!

 

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