RAFT Strategy




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ELA Web Pages:

Use this Strategy:

Before Reading

During Reading

After Reading

Targeted Reading Skills:

· Understand the relationship between literature and its historical, social, and cultural contexts

· Analyze and interpret elements of character development

What is it?

This is a great strategy that integrates reading and writing in a non-traditional way. It asks that students take what they have read and create a new product that illustrates their depth of understanding; it may be used with fiction or nonfiction texts. The format is incredibly flexible and offers limitless opportunities for creativity for both you and your students. When you are first using a “RAFT” with your students, you will develop the specifics for each element in the acronym; they are as follows:

Role: In developing the final product, what role will the students need to “take on”? Writer? Character (in the novel)? Artist? Politician? Scientist?

Audience: Who should the students consider as the audience for the product? Other students? Parents? Local community? School board? Other characters in the text?

Format: What is the best product that will demonstrate the students’ in-depth understanding of their interactions with the text? A writing task? Art work? Action plan? Project?

Topic: This is the when, who, or what that will be the focus/subject of the final product. Will it take place in the same time period as the novel? Who will be the main focus of the product? What event will constitute the centerpiece of the action?

What does it look like?

A teacher assigns (or students select) a role, audience, format, and topic from a range of possibilities. Below is a chart with a few examples in each of the categories; it is meant only as a sampling to spark new ideas and possibilities for building RAFTS:

Role	Audience	Format	Topic
writer artist character scientist adventurer inventor juror judge historian reporter rebel therapist journalist	self peer group government parents fictional character(s) committee jury judge activists immortality animals or objects	journal editorial brochure/booklet interview video song lyric cartoon game primary document critique biographical sketch newspaper article	issue relevant to the text or time period topic of personal interest or concern for the role or audience topic related to an essential question

Click here for an example of a RAFT assignment.

How could I use, adapt or differentiate it?

This strategy is great for differentiation; teachers (and students) can develop any number of possible RAFT’s based on the same text that can be adjusted for skill level and rigor.
Paula Rutherford’s book, Instruction for All Students, offers a comprehensive list of "Products and Perspectives" from which to chose.
The RAFT strategy can be used as a prewriting strategy and/or as a strategy for helping students prepare for a small or large group discussion.