Week 10A: R.A.F.T

Not every student has the same ability to acquire skills and perform/produce at the same level. Not every student has the same motivation to complete a task.  So when writing across the curriculum teachers must manage not only various skill and ability levels regarding the content of their subject but also different writing levels as well.  The RAFT acronym stands a reminder of the various ways in which teachers can differentiate a writing task. Here is how a social studies teacher may consider RAFT as a "vehicle" for differentiating.

R. ole-  Assigning students a different role in a project.  I have used this for a renaissance research project in which students assume the role of a renaissance artist.  Assigning students with an interest in architecture Palladio or Brunelleschi or science Leonardo.

A. audience- Different projects have different audiences.  For example students write blog posts that only their peers can read, publish websites that their parents will look over, or submit to contests that an outside judge will evaluate.  Changing the audience not only helps to teach students how to think about writing for a specific audience but also can add a increased level of motivation for some.

F. ormat- Having choice in the way students present their understandings is an excellent way to differentiate.  Allowing some students to create a multi-genre project with mixed text, audio, video like a Glogster or even just a poster.  While others write essay's or perform a skit.  The history day program is a great model for differentiation using form.  The difficult part for instructors is equitably grading these types of projects.

T. opic-The subject of the project.  This is a great way to differentiate if the goal focus is skill based rather than content based.  Allowing the student choice in content while demonstrating a mastery of the skill can easily create motivation and interest for the student.  It also makes grading more enjoyable as the instructor is not grade 60 assignments on the same topic:)