After Reading Routine:

RAFT

Jacqueline Pirrung, Alex Parker & Paul Mumaw

What is RAFT?
A writing strategy that:
o Encourages creative writing
o Builds and reinforces content learning
o Gives teachers the opportunity to gauge
students understanding of content

i.e. Formative assessment

How Does it Work?

R= Role
Who are you? You will take on the role of the person.
A= Audience
To whom are you writing or speaking?
F= Format
What form will your writing take?
T = Topic
What are you writing about?

Example RAFT
Role

Audie
nce

Forma
t

Topic

Astron excerpt.
NASA
Report Your
Example
aut
of
observ
As we continue away
from
the crater we find what appears to be a series of
Inform ations
ancient river channels,
look as if they were created long-long ago. We will
ation that
as you
attempt to collect a seriesvisit
of soil samples so we can compare them to those
Mars
found home on Earth. The channels appear to led away from the base of a very
large mountain. We believe this is the base of Olympus Mons, the great martian
volcano.

Now You Try!

ROLE
(who
you are
as the
writer)

AUDI
ENCE

Stude
nt

Writi
ng in
Perso
nal
Diary

Superi
ntend
ent
Willia
m
Smith

Parent

FORM
AT

TOPIC

Dear
Diary
.

Descri
bing
your
day at
school

Board
of
Educa
tion

Speec
h

Rebuil
ding
the
high
school

Comm
unity

Want
ed
Poste
r

Looki
ng for
your
missin
g child

Bibliography
Fisher, D. Brozo, W., Frey, N., & Ivey, G. (2012). 50 Instructional Routines to Develop Content
Literacy. Pearson.
Fisher, D. & Frey, N. (2011). Improving Adolescent Literacy: Content Area Strategies at Work, (3rd
ed.). Pearson.
RAFT: Reading Rockets. Retrieved from http://www.readingrockets.org/strategies/raft.
Scott County Historical Society. The Aftermath: Remnants of the Tornado. Retrieved from
http://www.rootsweb.ancestry.com/~vaschs2/the_aftermath.htm.
Unrau, N. (2007). Content area reading and writing: Fostering literacies in middle and high school
cultures (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson.