Using a RAFTS (Role, Audience, Format, Topic, and Strong Verb) model is a high yield instructional strategy that content area teachers can use to produce meaningful writing assignments. Since writing assignments provide an opportunity for students to reveal their thinking process, it is essential that teachers provide their students with a context for those writing assignments. A strong context provides a series of guidelines that students can follow, and those same guidelines can be used to construct a rubric which teachers can use to evaluate the writing.
Teachers can easily construct an assignment using the RAFTS components:
- The ROLE which tells the student what point of view to use
- The AUDIENCE which helps the student LIMIT and FOCUS the writing
- The FORMAT which identifies the PRODUCT the student is to produce
- The TOPIC which identifies WHAT the writing is to be about
- The STRONG VERB a verb from Bloom's Taxonomy; identifies the TYPE of PERFOMANCE from the writer With these 4 elements in place, assignment can be stated in a narrative (sentence) form.
Ex. 1: Assignment: 10th grade English students will write a persuasive editorial.
You are a member of the Westgate High School newspaper editorial staff (R). Write a Persuasive Editorial (F) for the student newspaper (A) where you address a current Westgate HS policy that needs to be changed (T).
- ROLE - member of the editorial staff of the Westgate High School newspaper
- AUDIENCE- the Westgate student body
- FORMAT - Persuasive Editorial
- TOPIC - Address a current Westgate HS policy that needs to be changed
- STRONG VERB - Persuade
Ex. 2 Assignment: 9th grade Earth Science students will write up their observations using the scientific method.
You are a botanist (R) who has grown plants under different conditions. Record (S) your observations (T) for your fellow botanists (A) as a lab write up using the scientific method (F).
- ROLE - a botanist recording the progress of plants grown in different conditions
- AUDIENCE - your fellow botanists
- FORMAT - scientific method
- TOPIC - Make observations
- STRONG VERB - Record in a Journal
About the Author
Regina Freeland, MA.ed (English) teaches high school English and College Composition at a community college.
2008 Regina S. Freeland. All Rights Reserved
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