Writing in Math

I love using RAFTs in math to motivate and inspire students to write about what they are learning. In Unit 1 students completed RAFTS on Relations and Functions. I found a cute activity already created (and I don't know where I found it) that provided students to be creative with their knowledge on Unit 1. Here are a few examples.

For some of my students this assignment was a bit challenging since it is the very first time we did it. But I think integrating it more into our Units,  students will get the hang of it. For their first time, I thought they did a great job.

Background on RAFTs

The more often students write, the more proficient they become as writers.  RAFT is a writing strategy that helps students understand their role as a writer and how to effectively communicate their ideas and mission clearly so that the reader can easily understand everything written.  Additionally, RAFT helps students focus on the audience they will address, the varied formats for writing, and the topic they'll be writing about. By using this strategy, teachers encourage students to write creatively, to consider a topic from multiple perspectives, and to gain the ability to write for different audiences. In the book, Strategic Writing, Deborah Dean explains that writing for differing purposes and audiences may require using different genres, different information, and different strategies. Developing a sense of audience and purpose in writing, in all communication, is an important part of growth as a writer.

RAFT assignments encourage students to uncover their own voices and formats for presenting their ideas about content information they are studying.  Students learn to respond to writing prompts that require them to think about various perspectives:

• Role of the Writer: Who are you as the writer? A movie star? The President? A plant?
• Audience: To whom are you writing? A senator?  Yourself? A company?
• Format: In what format are you writing? A diary entry? A newspaper?  A love letter?
• Topic: What are you writing about?

http://www.readwritethink.org/professional-development/strategy-guides/using-raft-writing-strategy-30625.html