Body Systems RAFT

Summary

Students will make selections concerning the role, audience, and format for a writing assignment to answer the question "How is one body system related to another within an organism?".

Materials

• student sheet (attached)
• paper and pencil OR
• computer

Instructional Procedures

1. Tell students that they are going to write a RAFT paper. RAFT stands for:
   Role: Who (or what) you are.
   Audience: To whom are you writing?
   Format: What form will your writing take?
   Topic: What subject are you writing about?
   
2. Share an example with the students. You may wish to project or make an overhead of this one:
   
   R = car in a junk yard
   A = teen who destroyed the car
   F = farewell letter
   T = take care of your car (scolding)

   Dear Claude, I've been forced to sit in this junk yard for the past year. Every day I've had to face the loss of more and more body parts until there is almost nothing left of me. But tomorrow, my time is up; I'm scheduled to be compacted, so I have to write this letter now. It is hard for me to say this, but I think you need to know you are responsible!
   I gave you the best years of my life, and how did you treat me? You refused to change my oil on a regular basis. (I get cranky when I have a dirty crankcase!) You always fed me the cheapest fuel, never letting me have any fuel containing detergents to help keep my parts clean. You constantly slammed on the brakes, wearing the treads from my tires. You never checked my tire pressure. I had to work extra hard to move with such low pressure in my tires. Do you know how much gas money you wasted over the years by driving on underinflated tires?
   I tried so hard to do my best, but you did not lift a finger to help. Oh, no! Here it comes, the big crunch! I've reached the end of my road....CRUNCH!
   Goodbye,
   Your car

3. The following table will help students select their role, audience and format. Have them circle a selection from each column.
4. Give students an idea how long their written work should be. Read the rubric out loud to help guide their writing.
5. Have willing students read their work to their groups and share the best ones with the class if time permits.

Bibliography

Lesson Design by Jordan School District Teachers and Staff.