LEARN NC

K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Using RAFT to determine how to write an informational essay

Students will use RAFT as a tool to determine how to write an informational essay. They will also design a graphic organizer for the assignment as well as compose a rough draft. This is the second lesson in a series of three based on the LEARN NC 9th grade writing exemplars.

A lesson plan for grade 9 English Language Arts

By Kim Bowen

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Related pages

  • Focus activity using RAFT: Better writing requires consideration of RAFT: Role, Audience, Format and Topic.
  • Identifying RAFT elements in writing prompts and assignments: Student will read writing prompts and practice identifying RAFT elements: role of writer, audience, writing format, and topic. This is the first lesson in a series of three based upon LEARN NC's 9th grade writing exemplars.
  • Conventions: Conventions — grammar, spelling, and the like — are important to good writing, but should be taught only after the other Features of Effective Writing.

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Learning outcomes

Students will use RAFT as a tool to determine how to write an informational essay. They will also design a graphic organizer for the assignment as well as compose a rough draft.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

Two class periods of 55 minutes or more

Materials/resources

  • Task cards for the five learning stations and five computers at stations
  • Notebook paper for graphic organizers and RAFT
  • Notebook paper for rough draft of essay

Technology resources

Access to the LEARN NC and NCDPI English I: Writing Exemplars. This lesson will make use of the high performance informational sample.

Pre-activities

Students should have completed Identifying RAFT Elements in Writing Prompts and Assignments and know the components of RAFT and how to apply this strategy to a prompt or writing assignment.

Activities

The teacher will divide the class into two groups for the lesson. Fifteen students will engage in activities at the five computer stations (in groups of three; adjust according to your numbers). The remaining fifteen students will design a graphic organizer and a rough draft using the good parent prompt or another informational prompt you have designed or chosen. On the following day, students who wrote a rough draft will work on the computer stations and vice versa.

Computer Stations

Send groups of 3 to the 5 stations. They will rotate every 10 minutes, using the following chart. If you cannot spare fifty-five minutes, this activity could span two days.

Computer Stations 1st 10 min. 2nd 10 min. 3rd 10 min. 4th 10 min. 5th 10 min.
Focus Group A Group B Group C Group D Group E
Elaboration Group B Group C Group D Group E Group A
Support/Elaboration Group C Group D Group E Group A Group B
Style Group D Group E Group A Group B Group C
Conventions Group E Group A Group B Group C Group D

Task Cards for the Five Stations

Station 1: Focus

  1. What is the central idea of this paper? How could the writer have written this idea in one sentence in the introductory paragraph?
  2. What anecdotes does the writer use to focus on the main idea?
  3. Find the clincher statements. How did they add to the focus of this paper?

Station 2: Organization

  1. How does the writer show progression and unity?
  2. Note that the teachers who annotated this paper said that paragraph 3 is weak. If this were your paper, would you leave out paragraph 3 to make the paper stronger, or would you revise the paragraph. Why?
  3. In paragraph 2, note the comment that shows when you put your cursor on “For example.” What is transition? How does a writer achieve it?

Station 3: Support and Elaboration

  1. Place your cursor on “For example” in Paragraph 2. Note the comment about the anecdote the writer chose.
  2. In paragraph 3, place your cursor on “I remember.” Notice the comment. How has the writer proved to the reader that spending time with children is a sign of good parenting?
  3. Put your cursor on “As an athlete” in paragraph 4. Note the comment. In your group, write a new paragraph that gives specific details and thoughtful elaboration like those found in paragraphs 2 and 3.

Station 4: Style

  1. Place your cursor on “What makes” in paragraph 1. What is a rhetorical question? What makes it effective in this introductory paragraph?
  2. Place your cursor on “so bad I could taste it.” What is a cliché? What other words could the writer have used here to improve the style?
  3. Put your cursor on the 2 of paragraph 2. Point out the simple, compound and complex sentences in this paragraph.

Station 5: Conventions

  1. Put your cursor on “their” in paragraph 1. Correct the pronoun agreement error.
  2. Put your cursor on “them” in paragraph 3. Correct the pronoun agreement error.
  3. Put your cursor on “childhood they” if paragraph 5. Why is a comma needed after childhood?

Graphic Organizer- Rough Draft Group Directions

  • Show the English I Informational Writing prompt or the one you designed or chose for this exercise.
  • The students are to write an essay in which they define a good parent. This essay will be included in an anthology for parents. This anthology will offer a variety of adolescent perspectives on what makes a good parent. At this point, if you wish your students to use examples from literature as well as life, go over the literary pieces that could be used.
  • Have students work in groups of three to design a graphic organizer defining a good parent (or using the prompt you designed or chose. You can go to a graphic organizer website, or you can suggest that they use a rectangle for the introductory paragraph, circles for the body paragraphs they decide to use, and an oval for the conclusion. Next have the students fill in the graphic organizer with relevant details. Have groups share their graphic organizers. (This activity can be done at their seats, but if you have a computer lab, it can be done at the computer.)
  • Finally, students should use their graphic organizers to write the first draft of their papers.

Assessment

Teacher will check answers to the task cards in the centers. Teacher will conference with students about their graphic organizers and rough drafts.

North Carolina Curriculum Alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 9 — English I

  • Goal 2: The learner will explain meaning, describe processes, and answer research questions to inform an audience.
    • Objective 2.01: Demonstrate the ability to read, listen to and view a variety of increasingly complex print and non-print informational texts appropriate to grade level and course literary focus, by:
      • selecting, monitoring, and modifying as necessary reading strategies appropriate to readers' purpose.
      • identifying and analyzing text components (such as organizational structures, story elements, organizational features) and evaluating their impact on the text.
      • providing textual evidence to support understanding of and reader's response to text.
      • demonstrating comprehension of main idea and supporting details.
      • summarizing key events and/or points from text.
      • making inferences, predicting, and drawing conclusions based on text.
      • identifying and analyzing personal, social, historical or cultural influences, contexts, or biases.
      • making connections between works, self and related topics.
      • analyzing and evaluating the effects of author's craft and style.
      • analyzing and evaluating the connections or relationships between and among ideas, concepts, characters and/or experiences.
      • identifying and analyzing elements of informational environment found in text in light of purpose, audience, and context.
    • Objective 2.02: Explain commonly used terms and concepts that:
      • clearly state the subject to be defined.
      • classify the terms and identify distinguishing characteristics.
      • organize ideas and details effectively.
      • use description, comparison, figurative language, and other appropriate strategies purposefully to elaborate ideas.
      • demonstrate a clear sense of audience and purpose.
  • Goal 5: The learner will demonstrate understanding of various literary genres, concepts, elements, and terms.
    • Objective 5.02: Demonstrating increasing comprehension and ability to respond personally to texts by selecting and exploring a wide range of genres.
  • Goal 6: The learner will apply conventions of grammar and language usage.
    • Objective 6.01: Demonstrate an understanding of conventional written and spoken expression that:
      • uses varying sentence types (e.g., simple, compound, complex, compound-complex) purposefully, correctly, and for specific effect.
      • selects verb tense to show an appropriate sense of time.
      • applies parts of speech to clarify and edit language.
      • addresses clarity and style through such strategies as parallelism; appropriate coordination and subordination; variety and details; appropriate and exact words; and conciseness.
      • analyzes the place and role of dialects and standard/nonstandard English.
      • uses vocabulary strategies such as roots and affixes, word maps, and context clues to discern the meanings of words.
    • Objective 6.02: Discern and correct errors in spoken and written English by:
      • avoiding fragments, run-ons, and comma splices.
      • selecting correct subject-verb agreement, consistent verb tense, and appropriate verbs.
      • using and placing modifiers correctly.
      • editing for spelling and mechanics (punctuation and capitalization).