Common Core Implementation Can Be Whimsical

In this charming Middle School Journal article, Gary Senn, Deborah McMurtrie, and Bridget Coleman (University of South Carolina/Aiken) tout the RAFT strategy for getting students to write across the curriculum in ways that connect with the Common Core State Standards. RAFT stands for: 

Role – the position of the author, which can be an animal, plant, rock, building, etc.

Audience – for whom the piece is written, not necessarily a human being

Format – this can be a love letter, a wanted poster, an obituary, or a conversation

Topic – limited only by the imagination of the writer

Many students strive to use strong verbs in their RAFT pieces to grab their readers’ attention.

How do RAFT pieces connect with the Common Core? In these and other ways: analyzing a text drawing inferences; analyzing interactions among individuals, events, and ideas; determining an author’s point of view; writing informative/explanatory texts to examine a topic and convey ideas, concepts, and information through the selection, organization and analysis of relevant content. 

Here’s one student team’s RAFT in which the Role is a tree branch, the Audience is 

loggers, the Format is a top-ten list, the Topic is leaving forest trees alone, and the strong verb is demand: 

A tree branch’s top ten reasons for loggers to leave forest trees alone

10. Poets praise me.

  9. Scouts study me.

  8. Little children love to climb me.

  7. I can no longer provide shade for picnic goers and hikers on sweltering days if you remove me.

  6. You break us, burn us, and grind us into objects merely for human consumption.

  5. You’re forcing us from our home, where we have lived for millennia, leaving a silent trail of tears.

  4. Animals that are forced to seek food and shelter farther away, in the limbs of my brothers and sisters, collide with human populations.

  3. You are reducing the food supply for wild animals.

  2. You are depleting the habitats of endangered birds and other species.

  1. You are harming the ozone – and all living things on our planet.

Loggers, I demand that you leave my forest alone!

And here are some RAFT ideas in environmental science:

• Role (who you are as the writer): a concerned citizen, a tree branch, a predator, an owl, a hawk, a mouse, prey, an owl pellet, decomposing roadkill;

• Audience: a hiker, U.S. Forest Service, a predator, an owl, a hawk, a mouse, prey, the governor of our state, people who litter;

• Format: obituary, want ad, diary or journal entry, invitation, recipe, last will and testament, confession, eulogy, complaint, a how-to manual, speech, top ten list, advice column, ransom note, country-western song;

• Topic: how a natural disaster changed my life; why I am at the top of the food chain; please leave my forest alone; the beauty of a balanced life; why I am important to you; we’re made for each other; we’re more alike than different; I like to get my nails done; I think I’m going to throw up; this land is my land, so get out.

• Strong verbs: persuade, demand, plead, inspire, announce, predict, compare, defend, explain, describe.

“RAFTing with Raptors: Connecting Science, English Language Arts, and the Common Core State Standards” by Gary Senn, Deborah McMurtrie, and Bridget Coleman in Middle School Journal, January 2013 (Vol. 44, #3, p. 52-55), www.amle.org; the authors are SennG@usca.edu, DeborahMc@usca.edu, and BridgetC@usca.edu. 

From the Marshall Memo #469