by Matthew Huddleston

Created on: June 22, 2009

Get on the R.A.F.T.

As an English/Language Arts teacher, I am constantly besieged by my colleagues from other curriculums about ways to incorporate student writing assignments into their subjects. Most other areas of study lend themselves easily to the standard research-based writing assignment. Those projects, however, can be time consuming and work-intensive. Writing across the curriculum is not really about formal research writing, but encouraging students to develop written communication skills that enhance their understanding of subject matter and their ability to share their knowledge with others.

To that end, teachers of any subject can find ways to incorporate less formal analytical writing exercises into their lesson plans. When asked by a colleague, my first suggestion is to use R.A.F.T. writing exercises. This writing format can be adapted to any topic and situation developed in the course of the regular curriculum, so it is teacher friendly. Instructors can choose to provide the structure for the assignment, or allow choice or flexibility for the writing elements, so students feel more connected to the personal writing piece. Students also react well because R.A.F.T. exercises often allow them to explore subjects from a different approach than the standard textbook or lecture model.

R.A.F.T. is the acronym for writing analysis guidelines that can be formulated to create a writing assignment based on four criteria: Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. In English/Language Arts classes, these criteria are used as a base to analyze literature. Using the same elements to create new writing is the tool that allows for expansion of writing across the curriculum.

Role refers to the voice of the writer. What character is the writer taking on as the narrator for their piece? For example, in chemistry, rather than have the students write as a student explaining a chemical reaction, they can write in the role of a beaker, explaining how elements are mixed inside to form the reaction. In this way, students do not just regurgitate static facts from the textbook or lecture, but are encouraged to think about abstract ideas, like how the chemical reaction feels. History teachers often use this method to have students write about events in the role of a person who lived through them. How did the start of the Revolutionary War look to a school age child living in Boston? By taking on particular roles

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