what is a raft writing assignment

Using the RAFT Writing Strategy

About this Strategy Guide

This strategy guide introduces the RAFT technique and offers practical ideas for using this technique to teach students to experiment with various perspectives in their writing.

Research Basis

Strategy in practice, related resources.

The more often students write, the more proficient they become as writers.  RAFT is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer and how to effectively communicate their ideas and mission clearly so that the reader can easily understand everything written.  Additionally, RAFT helps students focus on the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about. By using this strategy, teachers encourage students to write creatively, to consider a topic from multiple perspectives, and to gain the ability to write for different audiences. In the book, Strategic Writing , Deborah Dean explains that writing for differing purposes and audiences may require using different genres, different information, and different strategies. Developing a sense of audience and purpose in writing, in all communication, is an important part of growth as a writer.

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

• R ole of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? A plant?
• A udience: To whom are you writing? A senator?  Yourself? A company?
• F ormat: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper?  A love letter?
• T opic: What are you writing about?

Santa, C., Havens, L., & Valdes, B. (2004). Project CRISS : Creating Independence through Student-owned Strategies . Dubuque, IA: Kendall Hunt.

Dean, Deborah. 2006. Strategic Writing: The Writing Process and Beyond in the Secondary English Classroom . Urbana, IL: NCTE.

• Explain to your students the various perspectives writers must consider when completing any writing assignment.  Examples of different roles, audiences, formats, and topics can be found in a list of Picture Book RAFTs by Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey .
• For instance, if students are reading To Kill a Mockingbird , you may have students respond to the issues in the story as various characters to different audiences in multiple formats.
• Have a class think-aloud to come up with ideas for the piece of writing that you will create as a group.  Model on a whiteboard, overhead projector, or chart paper how you would write in response to the prompt.  Allow student input and creativity as you craft your piece of writing.
• Give students another writing prompt (for which you have already chosen the role, audience, format, and topic) and have students react to the prompt either individually or in small groups. It works best if all students follow the same process so the students can learn from the varied responses of their classmates.
• Choose a few students to read their RAFT aloud.  Have a class discussion about how each student created their own version of the RAFT while using the same role, audience, format, and topic.
• As students become comfortable in reacting to RAFT prompts, give students a list of options for each component and let them choose their role, audience, format, and topic.
• Eventually, students may choose a role, audience, format, and topic entirely on their own.  Varied prompts allow students to compare and contrast multiple perspectives, deepening their understanding of the content when shared.
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Reading and Writing Strategies

RAFT Writing

The RAFT strategy encourages students to write creatively, consider a topic from a different perspective, and to gain practice writing for different audiences.

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RAFT is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer, the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they’ll be writing about. 

• R ole of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A pilgrim? A soldier? The President?
• A udience: To whom are you writing? A political rally? A potential employer?
• F ormat: In what format are you writing? A letter? An advertisement? A speech?
• T opic: What are you writing about?

Why use the RAFT strategy?

Students must think creatively and critically in order to respond to prompts, making RAFT a unique way for students to apply critical thinking skills about new information they are learning. RAFT writing can be used across disciplines as a universal writing approach.

How to create and use the strategy

• Walk students through the acronym RAFT and why it’s important to consider various perspectives when completing any writing assignment.
• Display a RAFT writing prompt to your class and model how you would write in response to the prompt.
• Have students react to another writing prompt individually, or in small groups. It works best if all students react to the same prompt so the class can learn from each other’s responses.
• As students become comfortable in reacting to RAFT prompts, you can create more than one prompt for students to respond to after reading, a lesson, or a unit of study. Varied prompts allow students to compare and contrast multiple perspectives, deepening their understanding of the content.

Sample RAFT prompts

R:  Citizen A:  Congress F:  Letter T:  Taxation

R:  Scout Finch  A:  Community of Monroeville, Alabama F:  Eulogy for Atticus Finch T:  Social Inequality

Strategy in action

For more RAFT prompts, review Doug Fisher and Nancy Frey’s compiled list of Picture Book RAFT prompts . You may also find a RAFT scoring rubric and additional RAFT examples helpful as you implement the RAFT strategy in your class. Now, let’s watch as a teacher uses the RAFT writing strategy in her science class.

Tips for success

• It’s important for students to learn how their writing may change for different perspectives. It’s helpful to show students examples of writings on the same topic and format but with different roles of the writer or audience.
• Once students are fluent using the RAFT strategy, they can take any topic and choose the role, audience, and format on their own.

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Example of a Raft Writing Strategy

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Rafts (Role, Audience, Format, Topic, Strong action words) are a composing strategy that urges academicians to consider their job as writers, the crowd for whom they will compose, and different composing styles.

Show a completed RAFT writing example on the overhead projector.

Use simple examples to illustrate each of these: purpose, target, format, and topic

Demonstrate how to create replies to the questions and lead a discussion about the essential components with the class.

Students should practice responding to prompts in small groups or on their own.

RAFT writing includes writing from a range of viewpoints.

• It aids students in the development of critical writing skills such as audience, primary theme, and organization.
• It asks students to respond to the following prompts in order to encourage them to think about writing in new ways:
• Writer’s Role: As a writer, who or what are you? Are you a pilgrim? Or a soldier? Or a President?
• Who is your intended audience for your writing? Is it a friend? Teacher? Or a newspaper reader?
• What is the theme of the paper you are writing in? Is that a letter, or something else? Is it a poem or a prose piece? Is there going to be a speech?
• The following is a topic with a strong verb: So, what exactly are you writing about? Why? What exactly is the point, or what is the topic?
• It can be applied to a wide range of assignment topics.
• Students improve as writers when they write more frequently.
• RAFT is a writing approach that educates students to realize their position as writers and to express their thoughts and mission to the reader in such a way that everything they write is clear.
• RAFT writing technique also helps students focus on the audience they’ll be writing for, as well as the numerous writing genres and topics they’ll be writing about.
• Teachers may use this method to encourage students to write creatively, explore many views on a topic, and write for a variety of audiences.
• Writing for distinct aims and audiences may entail the use of varied genres, material, and strategies, according to Deborah Dean in her book Strategic Writing.

Scholars are aiming to improve their writing by including and clarifying additional evidence.

They can use the RAFT writing format to help them do this.

“Restate The Prompt or Query” is an acronym for R

“Answer The Question” is represented by the letter A.

“Find and explain the evidence” is what the letter F stands for.

T is for tying up the loose ends of your writing.

Santa, Havens, and Valdes established the RAFT writing technique (Function, Audience, Format, Topic) to assist students to understand their role as writers and convey their ideas clearly by creating a sense of audience and purpose in their writing.

When writing or reading material, RAFT Education teaches students to think about significant themes.

It should be used to handle the essential writing principles; this technique is a “complete/one-stop” strategy.

With illustrations, explain each prompt.

Select a passage from The Tempe stand and invite your students to perform a writing project based on the prompts using the RAFT writing technique.

Students can now use the prompts to assist them in writing more creatively.

When the students have completed their writing, they can read it to the rest of the class.

This will show all of the different stories told by the pupils.

It allows children to practice creative writing while simultaneously helping them grasp the books they’re reading.

Frequently Asked Questions

How do you go about using the raft strategy.

Ans: The stages for a Raft writing strategy are as follows:

• They should be conscious of their obligations as a writer.
• Consider a writing topic and look at it from several perspectives.
• Consider the target audience/reader and the information that needs to be conveyed.
• Examine the many types and styles of writing that are most appropriate for the job.

What is the RAFT approach, and how does it work?

Ans: The RAFT writing (role, audience, format, and task) approach may be utilized to educate in an interactive and cooperative manner. RAFT is a way to assure that students are aware of their position as authors, their intended audience, the format of their writing, and the information that should be included.

What is the purpose of a raft?

Ans: Use the following hypothetical exercise to describe and discuss the fundamental components of RAFTS: Students are assigned a role that determines the tone of their work. Because of the audience, students are concentrating on the impact of word choice and precise subtleties. Format – may be tailored to a student’s specific interests or abilities. The RAFTs Writing Technique (Santa, 1988) is a technique that teaches students about their job as writers, the audience for whom they will write, the various writing forms, and the material they will write about.

What are the benefits of using writing prompts?

Ans: The benefit of using writing prompts is that a writing prompt’s objective is to pique a student’s interest in a topic and urge them to write thoughtfully and creatively about it. While a good prompt introduces and limits the writing topic, it should also include specific directions on how to complete the assignment.

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How to Use the RAFT Strategy in the Classroom to Develop Reading and Writing Skills?

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Use the RAFT strategy in the classroom to encourage creative and organized writing. This writing activity will help develop the writing skills of students in a fun and creative way.

What is the RAFT strategy?

Writing is not easy for all students. In our classrooms, we see students struggling with the different phases or processes of writing. This strategy is used to help students understand the process of writing better. It teaches them the important concepts to consider when writing or reading a text. RAFT is an acronym that stands for Role, Audience, Format and Topic.

Why use the RAFT strategy?

This strategy is referred to as a “complete/one-stop” strategy, as it helps to address the most important concepts faced with writing. The application of the RAFT strategy has numerous benefits including helping students to:

• Understand their role as a writer
• Consider a topic for writing and analyze it from different perspectives
• Consider the audience/reader they are writing for and understand what needs to be conveyed
• Explore the different forms and styles of writing best suited for the assignment
• Effectively communicate their ideas and thoughts so that the audience/reader is able to easily comprehend the writing.

In a nutshell, the RAFT strategy enables students to identify their voice in writing and to write creatively considering different perspectives for a variety of audiences.

What does RAFT stand for?

The acronym RAFT stands for the following prompts:

• Role:  Who is the writer?
• Audience:  To whom are you writing?
• Format:  Are you writing to persuade, entertain, inform, or describe?
• Topic:  What are you writing about?

How to use the RAFT strategy in the classroom

Write down the RAFT acronym on the board and explain each prompt with examples. Pick a portion from your current reading assignment and decide with your students what role, audience, format and topic you can write about. For example, pick a portion from The Tempestand ask your students to do a writing assignment with these prompts using the RAFT strategy:

Role: Miranda

Audience: To herself

Format: Diary

Topic: Being on the island

The students are now able to follow the prompts to help them write creatively. After the students are finished they are able to read aloud to the rest of the class what they wrote. This will show all the different stories that the students created. This develops the text they are reading while practicing their creative writing skills. Over time, encourage students to apply the strategy individually, choosing their own RAFTs and applying it across different classes.

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