TheRAFTSprotocolwasdevelopedbyCarolSantaandhercolleaguesaspartofProject
CRISS(CreatingIndependencethroughStudent-ownedStrategies)asatoolfor
promptingthinkingandwritinginallcontentareas.ItisparticularlyusefulinLanguage
Arts,asaresponsetoreading.Invitingreaders/writerstotakeona“role”andconsider
audienceandpurposenotrequiresthemtoextendandapplytheirreading,italso
generatesmoreeffectivewriting.
TheacronymRAFTSstandsfor:
ROLE:Whoisthewriter?Itmightbethewriterhimselforherself,butthewriter
mayalsotakeonanotherpersona,suchasacharacterfromthereading.
AUDIENCE:Whowillreadthis?Thewriterisaskedtoconsidertheaudienceand
targetthevoice,toneandmessagetothatreader.
:
FORMAT Whattextformwillthewritingtake?Lettersarepopularchoices,butthe
optionsrangefromcharactersketchestocomicstrips.
TOPIC:What’sthewritingabout?Thepromptshouldrequirethereadertoreferback
tothetextandtheresponseshouldreflectanunderstandingofboththepromptand
thereading.
STRONGVERB:Theverbindicatesthepurposeofthewriting:asking,complaining,
outlining,sharing,etc.
As_____________________(role),writea___________________(format)
for/to_________________(audience),________________(verb/purpose),
_______________________________(topic).
©HighInterestPublishing
www.hip-books.com
SOMEEXAMPLESFROMHIPBOOKS:
AsOwen,writeacomicstriptoentertainlittlekidswiththestoryof
whyHeroisbothagoodandabadnameforhisdog.
(DogonTrialbySylviaMcNicoll)
AsRyan,writeane-mailtoanotherlotterywinneroutliningwhatnottodo
withyourbigwin–andwhy.
(WinnerbyPaulKropp)
AsTodd,writeaone-minutespeechtoconvincehisbossnot
firehim.(OneCrazyNightbyPaulKropp)
to
AsAmy,writea5Wsnewsreport,informingadultreadersabouthowthree
kidsmanagedtosavethemselveswhentheirboatcapsized.
(OverboardbyE.L.Thomas)
©HighInterestPublishing
www.hip-books.com
MOREIDEASFORRAFTSPROMPTS
ROLE
- yourself
- acharacter
fromthestory
- afictional
characternot
fromthestory
- afamous
person
- theauthor
AUDIENCE
- another
characterin
thestory
- theauthor
- otherkids
- newsreaders
- thegeneral
public
- acharacterin
another
story/movie/
TVshow
FORMAT
- letter
- editorial
- biographical
sketch
- newsarticle
- speech
- diaryentry
- comicstrip
- procedure
- seriesof
emailsor
tweets
- Facebook
post
TOPIC
anything
relatedtothe
story
STRONGVERB
-inquiring
- complaining
- explaining
- entertaining
- persuading
- clarifying
- outlining
- describing
- begging
- justifying
- informing
- amusing
AGENERICRUBRICFORASSESSINGANDTEACHING
READINGRESPONSES
5
Insightful
4
Thorough
3
Basic
2
Marginal
Insightfuland
well-crafted
responsethat
extends
beyondthe
obvious
interpretation
ofthetextand
offersstrong
supportfrom
thetext.
Thorough
responsewith
strongsupport
fromthetext.
Adequate
responsewith
limited
elaborationand
supportfrom
thetext.
Marginal
response
reflects
minimal
understanding
ofthetext,but
lackssupport.
1
Inadequate
Response
reflects
inadequate
understanding
ofthetext
and/orthe
task.
©HighInterestPublishing
www.hip-books.com
©HighInterestPublishing
www.hip-books.com