RAFT WRITINGCulinary ArtsAngela Boland

PSA

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASEJune 17, 2011

CONTACT: Angela Boland, Smithson Valley High School (555) 321 – 1234 angela.boland@ttu.edu

Writing As a Process Across the Curriculum

YOU will Fall in Love with Writing!

DO YOU DREAD THOSE BORING, LENGTHY ESSAYS AND REPORTS THAT YOUR TEACHERS ASSIGN? I DID TOO! NO MORE COPYING FROM A BOOK AND SPENDING HOURS WRITING A PAPER YOU DO NOT CARE ABOUT. GET READY TO FALL IN LOVE WITH WRITING! YES, IT IS POSSIBLE! HOW ABOUT WRITING FROM A DIFFERENT PERSPECTIVE FOR A SPECIFIC AUDIENCE, PERHAPS AS A FOOD WRITER INTRODUCING A NEW RESTAURANT? IF YOU ARE READY TO TRY OUT A NEW STYLE OF WRITING THAT IS INTERESTING AND FUN PLEASE VISIT WWW.READWRITETHINK.ORG AND SEARCH RAFT WRITING OR CALL (555) 321 – 1234.

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WHAT IS RAFT WRITING?

RAFT describes 4 elements of writingRole of the writerAudience for the writingFormat the writing will takeTopic covered in the writing

Allen, J. (2004). Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse

PURPOSE OF RAFT WRITING “It provides a method for students to

think critically and creatively about content they have studied…”

“To make connections to events, people, and places from their reading…”

“To infer and predict from the text clues…”

“To synthesize all their newly discovered information into an imaginative piece of writing” Allen, J. (2004). Tools for Teaching Content Literacy. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse

RAFT WRITING AS AN ASSESSMENT Text – Star Chefs on the Road: 10 Culinary

Masters Share Stories and Recipes, 2004, Food & Wine Biography of famous chefs, stories of their travels,

and travel inspired recipes Book contains approximately 4 pages of text, 3-4

pages of photos, 2-4 pages of recipes, and a short expert of travel tips; per featured chef

Book is edited by Food & Wine Magazine and text reads as a feature story

Easy, interesting read that will facilitate a beginning assessment of current knowledge and interest in culinary arts, creativity, and reading comprehension and writing ability

PRACTICAL APPLICATION In the classroom I would use multiple texts

that present famous chefs in various formats.

More options increase students interest Unlikely to have enough copies of a single book

This can be remedied by making photo copies Many FCS teachers only have one copy of the main

textbook and are forced to photocopy each chapter for their students.

More expansive options for RAFT using multiple texts Another option would be to research in advance

Web sites that the students could use to read and gather information for their famous chef RAFT

APPLICATIONCHOOSE YOUR FAVORITE CHEF

Rachel Ray

Wolfgang Puck

Emeril LagasseBobby Flay

BRAINSTORMCHOOSE YOUR RAFT!

Role

Audience

Format

Topic

Brainstorming in the ClassroomStudent Centered & Teacher Guided

BRAINSTORMING: STAR CHEFS TEXT

Role •Book Reviewer•Newspaper Columnist•Magazine Feature Writer

Audience

•Diverse Book Buyers•Middleclass Businessman•Reader of a Foodie Magazine

Format •Critical Feature Piece•Newspaper Column•Magazine Feature Article

Topic •Summarize and Critique Book•Influence of Travel on Chef’s Cuisine•Chef ________’s Travels

• Biographer• Travel Writer• TV Host – Interview

• The life of Chef _________• Travel like a Chef!• Meet Chef ____________

• CIA Studying Chef’s• Foodie Traveler• Stay-at-home Mom (Daytime TV)

• Report• Informative Feature• Interview for TV

ASSESSMENT Have students present their RAFTS

Students learn more about famous chefs Students are motivated to be creative and do

their best Learn about presentation skills and reading

confidence Use a Rubric

Six Trait Rubric for Writing Adapted from Vicki Spandel, Creating Writers – provided by Dr. Lesley

RAFT Rubric Adapted from Office of Literacy - included in this presentation

Beyond the grade – learning about your students Assessing their current knowledge, interest, and

ability in order to match learning strategies appropriate for each student and/or the class as a whole

REFLECTION Highly Engaging Activity Encourages Students to “Think Outside

the Box” Meaningful Exploration of the

Information/Text Exposed to Writing in Various Formats Great Assessment Tool for Teachers

COMPLETE REFERENCE LIST Allen, J. (2004). Tools for Teaching Content

Literacy. Portland, Maine: Stenhouse. Food & Wine. (2004). Star Chefs on the

Road: 10 Culinary Masters Share Stories and Recipes. New York: Assouline.

Other text option for Famous Chef RAFT Child, J. (1995). In Julia’s Kitchen with Master

Chefs. New York: Random House.