Strong Chapter 6

Just wanted to write that above since I'll be referring to it in this post and don't want to forget what it stands for.

So yeah, I think this method will be helpful for developing meaningful writing assignments. It was hard for me though because at the beginning of the chapter some of the token "boring" assignments actually sounded really interesting to me.

The ten design principles seem pretty solid to me as well although I do find a lot of them to be subjective to the teacher's personality and tastes. For example, topics that may be purposeful, inventive and meaningful to one may have little relevance in another's world. As I stated before, some of the first assignments had meaning to me whereas Strong saw them as uninspired.

I do like the design principle number four which is about assigning questions that elicit specific, immediate responses. It really is a good thing to keep in mind. It's important to be cautionary about assignments which don't focus on at least one specific question. It could create challenges to students in their reading comprehension and writing.

I also like the idea about give choices of writing assignments too; this helps empower students as well as give a level of differentiation to students.

In the list of sample assignments featuring the RAFT/CRAFT method, my heart pretty much melted at the R-square root A-whole number F-love letter T-explain our relationship....sooo adorable and almost made me want to teach math for a milli-second.

The case studies that followed were helpful...I like the propaganda assignment and thought it was really creative to format it as a obituary.

Lots of good stuff in this chapter about CRAFT...