Running head: STRATEGY PRESENTATION - RAFT
Strategy Presentation - RAFT
Lindsey Rigdon
University of Montevallo
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Strategy Presentation - RAFT
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Phase I: Definition of Strategy / Purpose and Rationale
RAFT is an after reading writing strategy where the purpose is for students to “think
critically and creatively about the content they have studied; to make connections to events,
people, and places from their reading; to infer and predict from the text clues; and to synthesize
all their newly discovered information into an imaginative piece of writing” (RAFT 84?). RAFT
is classified as a strategy that helps students on writing to learn opposed to the traditional method
of “learn to write.” Instead of the editing process of writing, RAFT is “meant to be a catalyst for
further learning” and to give “students an opportunity to clarify their own thinking (RAFT, 85).
RAFT also encourages students to write creatively by writing in varying perspectives and to
various audiences (Santa & Havens, 1995). The acronyms for RAFT are as follows:

Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? (i.e. a soldier, a musician)

Audience: To whom are you writing? (i.e. The President, a potential employer)

Format: What format should the writing be in? (i.e. letter, diary entry, speech)

Topic: What are you writing about? (i.e. attack on Pearl Harbor, water pollution)
The components of RAFT “help students understand their role as a writer, the audience they
will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about” (adlit.org).
The RAFT writing strategy is important because it elicits students to utilize a higher level of
cognitive learning as displayed in Bloom’s Taxonomy Pyramid. The objectives of RAFT
requires students to implement the synthesis level where they construct, design, and organize
what they know about the subject and rearrange their perspective into a person who would be
involved in the topic. The students must also formulate how to present their writing to the
intended audience which takes consideration. Students who lack confidence and creativity with
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writing benefit with the RAFT writing strategy because it guides them through the writing
process by providing them with precise expectations for a successful literary piece: a role,
audience, format, and topic. RAFT can also be implemented to aid students who struggle with
comprehension skills because the writing strategy promotes recalling, clarifying, and questioning
the text.
Phase II: Steps for Design with Visual Illustration – Detailed Directions
Step-By-Step
1. Based on the content that the class is studying, TTW consider the various roles and audiences
that would allow writers to consider different perspectives. For this lesson, the short story
Desiree’s Baby will be used for the RAFT exercise.
2. Prior to class, TSW have read Desiree’s Baby and will be familiar with the story’s
components.
3. TTW explain to the students how all writers have to consider various aspects before every
writing assignment including role, audience, format, and topic. TTW tell the students they
are going to structure their writing around these elements.
4. TTW distribute the RAFT graphic organizer. (see Appendix A)
5. TTW display the elements of RAFT on a bulletin board and demonstrate, model, and think
aloud the key components of the RAFT writing strategy as a class. TSW complete the RAFT
graphic organizer from the information they gathered with the think aloud demonstration.
The following model will be used:
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R = Madame Valmonde
A = Friends and Family of Desiree
F = Eulogy
T = Gentle, affectionate, and sincere demeanor of her beloved daughter whose life was cut short
6. As students become increasingly familiar with the RAFT strategy, TTW assign students into
four heterogeneous groups (Group A, B, C, and D) of five to six students. The groups will be
assigned varying prompts so that different students are responding to different, but related,
writing assignments. This provides the students with an opportunity to discuss their response
after writing.
7.
Each member in the group will be provided an additional RAFT graphic organizer to
organize their thoughts. The Groups will be given the following RAFT prompts.
Group A:
R = Desiree
A = Writer’s eyes only – secretive
F = Diary
T = Adoration and love of her husband and baby; Coldness of husband’s heart
Group B:
R = Reporter
A = Louisiana Herald Readers
F = Newspaper Article
T = Missing or found mother and baby; Burning at the L’Abri Estate
Group C:
R = Armand Aubigny
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A = Desiree
F = Letter
T = How he feels about their marriage and child after he realizes the differences in appearance
Group D:
R = African American slaves at L’Abri estate
A = Fellow African American slaves
F = Report of Information
T = Gossip about occurrences at the estate (i.e. fire, disappearance of Desiree and baby)
8.
TTW Circulate among the groups to provide assistance as needed. TSW then share their
formulations from their completed graphic organizer.
Phase III: Explanation of Example
TTW model the RAFT exercise for the following example:
R = Madame Valmonde (Desiree’s adoptive mother)
A = Friends and Family of Desiree
F = Eulogy
T = Gentle, affectionate, and sincere demeanor of her beloved daughter whose life was cut short

TTW explain that in order to write in the perspective of Madame Valmonde, one must
brainstorm on the culture, dialect, and emotions of a woman from a rich pedigree in the
late 19th century Louisiana who has just lost her only beloved child. Such components to
consider would be: status of a woman, etiquette and traditions of the South; racial,
cultural, and economic prejudices, a mother’s devoted love, etc.
Strategy Presentation - RAFT
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Next, TTW address who the audience will be and how to shape the author’s intent on the
basis of the writer and the intended audience. For example, the audience will be familiar
with the culture of the South and this will dictate the writing style of the literary piece.

Since the format is an obituary, TTW model elements of an eulogy that would be
present at a funeral. Examples of eulogies will be provided through the Prezi
presentation.

The topic of the eulogy will be centered upon the life and love of Desiree from a
mother’s account. The information will be centered upon the life that Desiree and her
parents shared. TTW explain that Desiree’s husband will most likely not be mentioned,
because of the circumstances. TTW explain that Desiree’s baby should be mentioned in
the eulogy, but the topic should be treated with caution and care since we presume the
baby was killed alongside his mother when she committed suicide or disappeared
(depending on the individual reading of the conclusion).
Phase IV: Ideas for Using in Other Content Areas
The RAFT writing strategy could be easily implemented as a tool to gain varying perspectives of
events in the contexts of Social Science. For instance, students could write an account of what
prejudices and hardships, and obstacles African Americans faced prior, during, and after the
Civil Rights Movement. Kinesiology teachers could also implement this strategy when
discussing issues dealing with health. Students could construct a letter ot their state legislature to
demand stricter rules governing what ingredients are placed into our food. Science students could
construct a newspaper article from the view of a concerned citizen on the damages of polluting
our waterways. As demonstrated, the RAFT strategy is very versatile in the learning environment
and can be implemented in any content area.
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Phase V: Limitations of Strategy
The student must have a well constructed skill for reading comprehension in order to identify the
elements in the text that provide information on what is needed in the RAFT strategy. For
instance, a student who has poor skills with identifying context clues will be unable to realize
that Desiree’s Baby is set on a large estate in Louisiana during the late 19th century. They will
also be unable to identify the clues provided in the text that Monsieur Aubigny is the one who is
in fact interracial. ELL will also encounter trouble when discussing the RAFT strategy if they are
unable to identify and comprehend the text.
Materials/Resources (Aligned with Procedures)
Poster Board
Computer
Internet
Website
Overhead Projector
Projector Screen
Prezi
Graphic Organizer (Appendix A)
References:
Graphic Organizer adapted from:
Allen, J. (2004). Tools for teaching content literacy. Portland, ME: Stenhouse.
Fisher, D., Brozo, W.G., Frey, N., & Ivey, G. (2007). 50 content area strategies for adolescent
literacy. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.
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Websites:
Saskatoon Public Schools. (2009). What is RAFT? Instructional strategies online. Retrieved
October 18, 2010 from http://olc.spsd.sk.ca/DE/PD/instr/strats/raft/.
WETA. (2010). RAFT writing. All About Adolescent Literacy. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from
http://www.adlit.org/strategies/19783.
WETA. (2010). RAFT. Reading Rockets. Retrieved October 18, 2010, from
http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/raft.