Creating Engaging Ramadan Writing Prompts using the RAFT Technique

I just finished reading a book called, "Writing Across the Curriculum," and it gave some neat tips for creating engaging writing prompts for writing, so I decided to try making up a few for Ramadan:

I started with some topics;

• Hijri Calendar vs. Gregorian Calendar
• Getting Ready for Ramadan/ It looks like Ramadan
• Suhoor (merits; example of good Suhoor choice)
• Ramadan Memories
• Get in the Ramadan spirit

Basic writing topics, right? How do we turn them into creative writing prompts that kids may actually want to write to?

We can use the RAFT approach.

RAFT is an acronym for:

R - Role
A - Audience
F - Format
T - Topic

Instead of merely giving your student a topic, also set a role for them to get into (writer, historian, inventor, teacher), give them an "actual" audience to write to (activist, parent, animals) and establish a format (letter, brochure, editorial). Or, you can have your student come up with their own role, audience, and format.

"Toolbox of Ideas: The RAFT Technique" gives some great background information about this technique of writing. I have been using it for years with my kids and they will attest that using this method has often made writing more engaging (ok, maybe they won't use that word per say) but it has been a very good motivation technique, alhamdulillah.

Below are some sample RAFT writing prompts that can be used with the topics I supplied earlier:

You are a news reporter (role) for the Metro City Times newspaper. Ramadan is approaching and your paper will run a series of reports on the month. Most of the readers of the paper are non-Muslims (audience)and after the results of a poll run in the paper recently, it is concluded that most have little knowledge about the Islamic calendar. Write a newspaper article (format) that compares and contrasts the Hijri/Islamic calendar and the Gregorian calendars. (topic)

You are a copy writer for the city of Ramadania, a popular destination for Muslims during Ramadan because of its Ramadan Village . Write an advertisement in the form of a feature article to be published in a newspaper in a nearby city encouraging Muslims to come visit Ramadania during Ramadan. Describe the atmosphere of Ramadan Village during Ramadan, the decorations, exhibits and activities that will make Ramadan an unforgettable experience for visitors this Ramadan.

You are a copy writer working for the Great Grains manufacturing company (they manufacture bread and other grain products). The company is trying to reach out to the Muslim community to promote Great Grains� products as great candidates for Suhoor (pre-dawn meal for fasters). Create a brochure for the general Muslim public that explains the benefits of taking Suhoor, describes the components of a healthy Suhoor and non-healthy Suhoor and how they affect the fast, and then persuades them to buy products from The Great Grains company for Suhoor by showing how they compare to what is recommended for a healthy Suhoor.

 You are an elderly Muslim. A local Islamic newspaper has asked you to write a memoir of a past Ramadan (when you were a child) to be published in a special Ramadan edition of the paper.

 Ramadan is here and the excitement of Ramadan is not felt very much in your Muslim community. The fast of most of your peers doesn�t reach much beyond abstaining from eating and drinking. You decide to write a letter to the editor to call your Muslim brothers and sisters to do more this Ramadan.

These are just a few ideas to get the juices flowing. Can you and your students come up with interesting Ramadan themed writing prompts to write to using the RAFT Technique?