Designing Writing Assignments
to Promote Learning in All
Content Areas
(and oh, by the way, college and career
readiness)
Dr. L. Lennie Irvin
Director, San Antonio College Writing Center
Co-Director, San Antonio Writing Project
In This Presentation You Will Learn
Two strategies for designing writing
assignments that are easy to design
and implement
--RAFTS and a TIP
--Template Tasks (Literacy Design
Collaborative)
Writing Matters in ALL Content
Areas
 “Today the teaching of language arts is often
considered the exclusive responsibility of English
teachers. However, the complex role of
language in education makes it clear that the
language arts cannot be left entirely to the
English class. Improvement in the language arts
requires students to read and write frequently in
all disciplines and to receive ample feedback.”
“English/Language Arts Standards.” Texas College and Career
Readiness Standards. (2009).
Writing and Deep Learning
 The use of writing to promote deep learning
depends less on the amount of writing
assigned in a course than on the design of
the writing assignments.
--The Consortium for the Study of Writing in College (joint project of
the Council of Writing Program Administrators and the National
Survey of Student Engagement)
Peter Elbow’s Map of Writing in
Terms of Audience and Response
5
Two Types of Writing
Assignments
 Closed-form, Formal
assignments
--thesis-support essays,
presents and “argument,”
structured, what is
traditionally considered
“academic” writing,
longer, takes more time to
write, carries more weight
in evaluation
 Exploratory, Informal
assignments
--less formal, exploratory,
alternative genres than
the “essay,” shorter, done
in shorter time frame, writeto-learn purposes,
expressive, reflective,
carries less weight in
evaluation
Effective writing assignments can be EITHER formal or informal
Characteristics of Effective
Writing Assignments
 Interactive Components
--inquiry, process, feedback
 A Meaning-Constructing Task
--writing based upon a problem, question
 Clear Explanation of Writing Expectations
--requirements, goals, criteria
Strategy #1: RAFTS
Designing Writing Assignments as “MeaningConstruction” Tasks
Give your students RAFTS
Role
Audience
Format (or genre)
Task
Strong verb (purpose)
and a TIP
Task as
Intriguing
Problem
Looking at RAFT examples
Example #1
Many people believe, mistakenly, that summer is hotter
than winter because the summer sun is closer to the
earth. You are a physics teacher (role) and you
received this same question from your 12 year old
nephew who holds this mistaken belief. Send your
nephew (audience) an e-mail (format) that explains
(strong verb) why this belief (topic) seems logical but is in
fact wrong. Then offer a better explanation. (for Physics)
Role—Physics teacher
Audience—your nephew
Format--email
Topic—sun and seasons
Strong Verb--explain
Example #2
History Writing Assignment
 At first, the colonies accepted support from England,
but after a while, England tried to increase its control
over the colonies. You are a member of Parliament
and you want to help the King with some ideas about
how to increase England's control over the colonies:

Role: Member of Parliament
Audience - King George III
Format - a letter
Topic - How we can impose greater economic and political control
over the colonies
Strong Verb – suggest or propose

You may use your notebook, textbook, or the internet to help you. Here
are some links that may give you some ideas about what to include in
your letter: The Stamp Act, Prelude to Revolution, King George and the
Colonies , Social Studies Webpage - Have fun and be creative!!
Example #3
Science Writing Assignment
 You are a meteorologist who has been invited to
speak at a Clark Elementary 4th grade class. Write a 35 minute speech explaining how heat affects the
water cycle. L2 Provide some examples of how rising
temperatures have influenced our water cycle
recently. L3 Present some predictions for how
increasing temperatures might influence the water
cycle and our weather in the future.
 Role: Meteorologist
Audience – 4th graders
Format – 3 minute speech
Topic – the influence of heat on the water cycle
Strong Verb – explain
Example #4
More examples
Strategy #2: Literacy Design
Collaborative Template Tasks
What is the Literacy Design
Collaborative
 The Literacy Design Collaborative (LDC) offers a
fresh approach to incorporating literacy into
middle and high school content areas. Designed
to make literacy instruction the foundation of the
core subjects, LDC allows teachers to build
content on top of a coherent approach to
literacy.
 LDC lays out the literacy design first and then
allows teachers to add their content on top of a
solid literacy foundation.
LDC TASKS
 Each LDC task is a reading and writing
prompt, asking middle or high school
students to take on an important issue
in science, history, ELA or another
subject.
LDC TASKS
 The LDC system starts with “template tasks” that
have the CCSS literacy standards “hardwired” in.
Teachers then put in their own content. Each
template includes a “fill-in-the-blank” prompt
and a scoring rubric. When teachers add their
reading/writing assignments, they will have
created a teaching task, which typically takes
two to four weeks of classroom time.
 Teachers also can use the template tasks to
create shorter “classroom assessment tasks” that
students address in one or two sittings to be used
as either pre- or posttests.
LCD Modules
 All together, in LDC short-hand, we refer to the LDC
module as a series of four key steps:
 What Task? --the writing assignment
What Skills? –the content and learning objectives
What Instruction? --lesson plans
What Results? --rubrics (already pre-made for
informational/expository, argumentative and narrative writing)
 These four sections, built step-by-step, make up a
complete LDC module. In essence, an LDC module is a
comprehensive literacy plan – starting from a teaching
task and ending with a student product – that teachers
teach over approximately a 2-4 week period. Anatomy
of a LDC Module -- Example Module
Example of RAFTS fit into LDC
 RAFT Writing Assignment
 LDC Teaching Task
 You are a meteorologist
 How does heat affect the
who has been invited to
speak at a Clark
Elementary 4th grade class.
Write a 3-5 minute speech
explaining how heat
affects the water cycle.
water cycle? After reading
chapter 3 in our textbook,
write short speech that
addresses this question
and support your
explanation with evidence
from the text.
Example of RAFTed LDC
Teaching Task
 How does heat affect the water cycle?
 You are a meteorologist who has been invited to
speak at a local 4th grade class. After reading
chapter 3 in our textbook, write a 3-5 minute
speech that explains the influence heat has on
the water cycle and support your explanation
with information from the text.
Building Writing Assignments
Yourselves
Working in Content Groups
Design 1 or 2 Writing Assignments
 RAFT Assignment
 LDC Template Task
 Role
 [Insert question] After reading
 Audience
 Format
 Topic
 Strong Verb
OR you can RAFT your LDC
assignment
______ (literature or informational
texts), write _______ (essay or
substitute) that addresses the
question and support your
position with evidence from the
text(s). L2 Be sure to
acknowledge competing views.
L3 Give examples from past or
current events or issues to
illustrate and clarify your position.
Resources for Designing Writing Assignments
for Learning in All Content Areas
Bean, John C. Engaging Ideas: The Professor’s Guide to Integrating Writing,
Critical Thinking, and Active Learning in the Classroom. 2nd ed. San Francisco:
John Wiley & Sons, 2011.
Gardner, Traci. Designing Writing Assignments. Urbana, Ill: National Council of
Teachers of English, 2008. Available at
http://wac.colostate.edu/books/gardner/
Writing Next: Effective Strategies to Improve Writing of Adolescents in Middle and
High Schools. Washington, D.C.: Alliance for Excellent Education, 2006.
Available at http://www.all4ed.org/publication_material/reports/writing_next
RAFT Sites
Daretodifferentiate: http://daretodifferentiate.wikispaces.com
HomeReadWriteThink NCTE: http://www.readwritethink.org/professionaldevelopment/strategy-guides/using-raft-writing-strategy-30625.html
Northern Nevada Writing Project WritingFix:
http://www.writingfix.com/wac/RAFT.htm
Literacy Design Collaborative: http://www.literacydesigncollaborative.org/