RAFT Writing

For my spotlight strategy, I chose to do a RAFT writing assignment, where students write from a different point of view (Role), for a specific Audience, in a specific Format, on a specific Topic. Again I used this activity with my English students while working on The Miracle Worker. The Assignment was to choose a character from the play, write a business letter to Dr. Anagnos, explaining the miracle that has taken place, how you feel about it as your character, and how you think it will affect the family and each individual other character - from your character's perspective. I gave them a list of brainstorming questions like the following. How would you describe your character? What are the desires of your character? Who are the important people in your character's life and why? What are your character's expectations at the beginning of the play? What are your character's feelings at the end of the play? What was the lesson your character learned? How does your character think this will affect each of the other characters? Next time I will create a graphic organizer for this purpose. Some of the students had a hard time answering these questions. Of course, then they drafted their letters, we went over the format for a business letter, and they rewrote their drafts in business letter form. We then went to the lab and typed and printed them out. Most of the students got a kick out of this assignment. Some had trouble staying in character throughout the letter, but I think it taught a good lesson in point of view. It also got them thinking about the feeling of the different characters.
Vicky J