Don’t Drown—RAFT DOWN!

RAFT DOWN

Role of the Writer—Who are you?

Audience—For whom is this to be written?

Format—What form am I to use (essay,

speech, letter, etc.)?

Topic—What am I to write about? I should focus on ________.

Do – Are there action verbs that tell what to do?

O – Circle the action verbs

What- What else? Box in key information or hints

Now – Prewrite!

RAFT DOWN practice one As a student council representative for the ninth grade,

you have been asked to write a letter to a group of eighth graders who have recently registered for their first high school schedules. This particular group of students has high rates of absenteeism, poor grades, and low self-esteem. In your letter, give them advice on how to succeed in high school.

•Write an article on the meaning of friendship for the February issue of your school newspaper. Be sure to include some ideas from your own experiences and ideas from something you have recently read.

RAFT DOWN practice two

RAFT DOWN practice three

•Think back to a time when you conformed to a group, rather than standing up for something you believed in. Tell about that experience in an essay, remembering to reflect on what you learned from that situation. You will share this essay with your five-member writing group.

RAFT DOWN practice four

•Prepare the body of a speech that you will deliver to your homeroom, encouraging all students to attend the home soccer game on Friday afternoon. In your speech, define school spirit, and give your classmates clear examples of how to display their school spirit.

RAFT DOWN practice five

•Choose the most outstanding moment of your life so far. Set the scene for this event, tell what your were doing at the time, and clearly show how this scene is significant in your life. Write an essay that you will share with your parents when they come for their student-led English I conference.

I used RAFT DOWN

so I know what I want

to write ABOUT…

but I still don’t know

WHAT to write!

Gather Ideas!

Pre-Writing Strategy: Listing

Obesity in kids See it everywhere Pretty big percentage of kids are obese Cause: lack of exercise (no recess in Georgia; playing outside has been lost to video games) Cause: poor diet (fast food, Super Size) Health risk: diabetes Health risk: heart conditions How do we fix this? Educate kids and parents Make school cafeterias food healthier Encourage grocers in all areas to carry healthier and fresher produce and meats

Just like it sounds…make a list of everything that comes to mind

Pre-Writing Strategy: Bubbling Start with the topic

Add big ideas

Add details to the ideas

Pre-Writing Strategy: Charting Who is affected Causes Health Risks Solution

Children Video Games Diabetes Education

Parents Fast Food Heart Problems School Cafeterias

Taxpayers Lost Recess Joint Health Local Grocers

Medical Industry

Pre-Writing Strategy: Clustering

Horror Movies

195o’s The blob, The Thing, other

creature flicks

Studios 1970’s Hammer Studios Current Studios

Audiences who watches? Age?Gender?

Types of threats Creature Criminal Supernatural

193o’s Frankenstein,

Dracula, Wolfman

197o’s Halloween,

Friday the 13th, Evil Dead

Newer Movies Texas Chainsaw,

Paranormal activity

Informal Outlining Write full sentences or simple phrases and move ideas around as the structure becomes apparent.

I. Who watches horror movies?

A. Adult males?

B. Adult females?

C. Couples?

D. Certain age demographics?

II. Why do we watch horror movies?

A. to be scared, thrilled

B. to relax

C. to be first to see and tell friends

D. to enjoy special effects

III. What types are popular?

A. series

1. Nightmare on Elm Street (Freddy)

2. Halloween (Michael Meyers)

3. Friday the 13th (Jason)

B. supernatural

C. creepy creatures

D. psychotic criminal

Pre-Writing Strategy: Free Write

Don’t worry about grammar, spelling, or punctuation. The goal is to get down all of your thoughts on the subject

I was at the mall the other day trying to pick out a dress for my brother's

wedding and everywhere I looked there were all these really overweight kids. It was

scary to think that kids so young could have a weight problem like this and I started to

wonder if it was just the mall or just a weird day and maybe not so many kids out in

society were really obese. So I looked it up and found out that a third of children are

obese and obese doesn't mean a little overweight it means a lot overweight. I heard

something on the news about the state of Georgia canceling recess because the kids

need more time to study for the placement tests required by the "No Child Left

Behind" Act, but I have to say it seems like if we don't let kids exercise and play, we are

leaving a lot of children behind! I guess lack of exercise is a big cause of all this, and it

doesn't help that instead of playing outside after school kids play video games, but I

also think the "Super Size" fast food explosion hasn't helped. One super size fast food

meal has more fat and calories than anyone needs in an entire day and it's just one

meal!

I wonder how we can encourage kids to eat healthier and this seems like a

really important thing to do because child obesity has to have health risks like diabetes,

maybe even heart trouble. We have to educate kids and their parents, but how? Maybe

we need to start in our school cafeterias where they serve cheeseburgers and pizza

everyday! What kind of message is that sending! Kids need to develop a taste for

healthier foods and we all now that sugar and fat are really tasty so we need to limit kids'

exposure to them. We need to educate parents, maybe through the schools, about the

health risks their kids face. We need to encourage good grocery stores to come into

neighborhoods that don't have them now. When I use to live in the city, the produce at

the local Safeway was always unripe or rotten and the only meat was fish sticks. What

options are those? So we need to educate people but we also need to give them better

options so they can eat healthy.

Many students would consider that to be pretty good writing and turn it in for a grade, but you are smarter than that! You know that writing is a PROCESS and realize that this piece has good ideas but it still needs: A hook A thesis Organization Examples Explanations Sentence Variety Better Word Choice Editing

(Lucky for you we will learn how to do all of these things in the NEXT steps of the writing process)

Practice One: