rafts for differentiating september 2013 krystal coker

RAFTs for Differentiating

September 2013Krystal Coker

A RAFT is…

• …an engaging, high level strategy that encourages writing across the curriculum.

• …a way to encourage students to…– …assume a role– …consider their audience– …examine a topic from a relative perspective– …write in a particular format


RAFT acronym

• Role of the Writer - Who are you as the writer? Are you Sir John A. Macdonald? A warrior? A homeless person? An auto mechanic? The endangered snail darter?

• Audience - To whom are you writing? Is your audience the Canadian people? A friend? Your teacher? Readers of a newspaper? A local bank?

• Format - What form will the writing take? Is it a letter? A classified ad? A speech? A poem?

• Topic + strong Verb - What's the subject or the point of this piece? Is it to persuade a goddess to spare your life? To plead for a re-test? To call for stricter regulations on logging?


RAFTs can…

• Be differentiated in a variety of ways: readiness level, learning profile, and/or student interest

• Be created by students

• Be used as introductory hooks into a unit of study


Possible RAFT Formats to Differentiate by Learning Modality

Written Visual Oral Kinesthetic

Diary entry

Bulleted list

Obituary

Invitation

Game rules

Recipe

Movie critic

FAQs

Editorial

Gossip column

Cartoon/Comic

Crossword puzzle

Map

Graphic organizer

Print ad

Photograph

Fashion design

Song

Monologue

Radiocast

Museum

guide

Commercial

Interview

Puppet show

Political

speech

Story teller

Model

Cheer

Mime

Demonstration

Sales pitch

with demos

Sew, cook,

build

Wax museum

Game


Differentiating a RAFT by Readiness(Teacher assigns RAFT or choices of RAFTs based on students’ reading,

writing or performance levels)

•Roles/Audience– Well-known people or charters to lesser known – Basic essential items (vocabulary, inventions, elements,

etc.) to more esoteric items– Easier to understand point-of-view to more intangible

perspective•Formats (while offering choices to students)

– Shorter to longer (in prep, process or presentation)– More familiar to more unfamiliar formats– Single step to multiple steps


Differentiating a RAFT by Readiness(continued)

• Topics– Easier to interpret to more sophisticated– Concrete & literal to more abstract response– More structured to more open-ended– Small leap in insight & application to larger leap


Analyzing a RAFT Lesson

• What are the learning goals for this lesson and are they built into every choice?

• How is this RAFT being differentiated?– Does it appeal to different learning styles?– Is there a range of difficulty in the:

• Roles?• Formats?• Readiness levels?

– Do the roles, formats or topics appeal to a variety of interests?


RAFT Planning

• Know (facts, vocab) – think about the know when planning the role or audience

• Understand (statement) – think about the understand when writing the topics

• Do (verb) – this might be the guide for the format


Ways to use RAFTs

• Assess prior knowledge before a unit• Centers/Stations• Exit Ticket• Warm Up/Bell Ringer• Formative assessment • Alternative to a traditional assignment• And the list goes on…


RAFTs and Word WallsYou have these lovely word walls…now what?

Integrate word walls into your RAFTs!

This will provide scaffolding within the differentiation by giving the students a word bank to use when they are

writing.

…or require students to use a certain number of words from the word wall into their RAFT assignment.


rafts for differentiating september 2013 krystal coker

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