Reflection 5: RAFT

What?

RAFT is an acronym for a writing strategy that allows students to “show what they know” in an engaging way. It is a flexible structure that allows teachers and students to create and design formative or summative projects that enhance learning at a deeper level.

RAFT assignments encourage students to discover their own voices and formats for presenting their ideas about content they are studying.  Students learn to respond to writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives:

• Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? A plant?
• Audience: To whom are you writing? A senator?  Yourself? A company?
• Format: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper?  A love letter?
• Topic: What are you writing about?

In other words, it is a self made topic generator!

So What?

This strategy was brought to life in our Field Seminar class as we made spinners that would show the template of our writing assignment. This process was engaging and I was invested in the outcome as we co-created an outline as a class. We were shown a picture, and were asked to come up with 4 different perspectives we could write from (eg. dad, little girl, petrie dish, or plant). Then, we chose 4 different formats (eg. letter, poem, wanted poster, or a diary entry). Our assignments were varied as we all had different spinner outcomes and the results were refreshing and engaging! Some students created wanted posters from the perspective of a little girl, while others wrote a diary entry from the perspective of a plant!

Now What?

This strategy goes beautifully with the UVic teacher competency #12 which states that educators need to “develop an understanding of how learners learn in order to cultivate effective learning environments”.

An effective learning environment in relation to Universal Design for Learning (UDL) is one that is inclusive, flexible, and accessible to all students, regardless of their diverse needs, strengths, or learning styles. Preparing a lesson with this design in mind emphasizes multiple means of engagement, representation, and expression to ensure that every student has the opportunity to succeed. The RAFT writing strategy allows for this type of inclusivity as all 3 of these modes can be expressed in different ways and can be chosen by the student, or in this case, a spinner.

Going forward in my own practice, I will definitely be using this fun, engaging, student led writing strategy. I think students will be excited about the flexibility and creative process of this writing activity. It can also be used as both formative and summative assessment strategies to show evidence of learning.