Once a student has generated multiple topics to write about, he is ready to begin focusing more closely on one particular topic. During this stage, the student will begin to identify key concepts and ideas concerning his chosen topic.. This page includes intervention strategies that you can use to support your students in this area. As you read, consider which of these interventions best aligns with your student's strengths and needs in the whole-learner domains.
Explicit Instruction
If you are intervening to support your student's ability to narrow the topic, you should start by explicitly teaching the skill. This sounds like:
Activity A: R.A.F.T.S.
RAFTS is a strategy that provides a structure to allow students to narrow their ideas. It stands for:
RAFTS in Action
Give students a topic, and direct them to use the RAFTS strategy to write a letter. I've handed each of you a topic. You will use the RAFTS strategy to structure your work before you write. Remember the five parts of RAFTS: Role, Audience, Format, Topic, and Strong Verb.
Read Ruth Culham's excerpt below, which explains how to use RAFTS in the classroom.
Culham, R. (2003). 6 + 1 Traits of writing. New York, NY: Scholastic.
Activity B: Call It Out
Pick an category, such as "animals." Ask the student specific questions about the category, starting with general ones and gradually narrowing in, such as: What type of animal is it? What color is it? What habitat does it live in? Does it have any prey/predator(s)? What does its diet consist of? What makes it unique? Continue to ask questions to allow the category to be examined from multiple viewpoints, such as: Which animals would be afraid of it? What is this animal's "superpower?" This conversation should last 3-5 minutes in total. Record the topics, and allow students to do a 5-minute quick write on one of their choosing (Culham, 2003).
Call It Out In Action
Teacher: I'd like you to think of an animal. I'm going to get you to narrow in on this topic as I ask you different questions. Do you have an animal in mind? (Student nods.) Great! Now, what type of animal is it?
Student: A platypus.
Teacher: What color is it?
Student: Brown, but it has a big yellow beak... I mean bill.
Teacher: Where does it live?
Student: In the water, and on land. It's a really good swimmer. It's got specific paws that allow it to survive on both land and water.
Teacher and student continue this conversation until questions get more narrow (What are the platypus's adaptations? What makes the platypus unique?), and then the teacher asks questions that allow the student to think about the animal from multiple perspectives.
Teacher: What is this animal's superpower?
Student: It is a super swimmer! It can escape any predator in the water!
Teacher: I've learned a lot I didn't know about the platypus from this conversation! Now, I'm going to ask you to write about one, just one, of the topics we just discussed. Here, I've written down the topics. Which one do you want to do a quick write on?
Student: I'll write about adaptations that allow the platypus to survive on both land and water.
Activity C: Picture This
Show the student an art print, picture, or image that you feel is especially powerful, or that you feel your student will enjoy analyzing (Culham suggests Pablo Picasso's Guernica). Ask the student to write down what he sees in a series of statements. Then, cover almost the entire print with pre-cut pieces of paper so that only a small portion of the print is visible to the eye. Ask the student to describe what he sees. Then, cover a different portion, and ask the student again to describe what he sees. Continue to do this until the student has described the entire picture out of content. Then, uncover the print and ask the student to describe it one final time (Culham, 2003).
Picture This In Action
Click here to see Pablo Picasso's Guernica.
Teacher: Here is a painting by the famous Pablo Picasso, called Guernica. I'd like you to take out your notebook and describe what you see in a few sentences. (Teacher gives student three minutes.) Okay, now we are going to analyze this painting, and you will tell me what you see. (Teacher covers up painting so that only the bottom right corner is visible.) What do you see?
Student: I see somebody's toes. It looks like he is moving because his foot is leaning forward, like he is walking. He might be in a rush to go somewhere.
(Teacher covers up the corner and shows student a different portion. Student describes this portion. Teacher and student continue like this until the student has described the entire painting, portion by portion.)
Teacher: Now that you've seen the painting in its pieces, look at it in its entirety again. Then, write down what you see in your notebook.
Picasso, P. (1937). Guernica. Retrieved from http://www.pablopicasso.org/guernica.jsp#prettyPhoto[image1]/0/
Think about the following scenario, which takes place after a teacher has explicitly taught a student strategies for narrowing a topic:
Teacher: "What topics do you think are important to cover?"
Student: "I don't know. Nothing."
In such a case, what might you do?
When you are planning your lessons, you should anticipate that your student will make errors throughout. Here are a series of prompts that you can use to respond to errors. Keep in mind that all students are different, and that students might respond better to some types of feedback than to others.
| Level of Support | Description of Scaffold | Script |
|---|---|---|
| Smallest Scaffold | Check your Resources. As you continue to use these interventions, your student should have lots of writing. Ask him to use this resource to get ideas about how to narrow his topic. | "Look in your notebook, and think about other topics you have covered. See if they give you ideas about how to narrow your topic." |
| Medium Scaffold | Back it Up. If a student is struggling, back up your process. Ask the student to draw the event, or return back to the dialogue before asking him to write again. | "I can see that you are stuck. Let's talk through your topic and see if we can decide which topics are important to write about." |
| Highest Scaffold | Step by Step. If the student continues to struggle, walk him through each step, providing examples along the way. | "The first step is to think about the key concepts we need to cover. For example, if I wanted to write about cooking vegetables, I'd identify that my key concepts include information about which vegetables are best to cook. Now, let's think about your topic: which are the key concepts you need to include?" |
If your student struggles to meet your objective, there are various techniques that you might employ in order to adjust the activity to your student's needs.
| Activity | Description of Strategy | Script |
|---|---|---|
| All Activities | Graphic Organizers. Use a graphic organizer to help capture thoughts. | "I've put the word 'platypus' in the middle circle of this bubble map. What do you think the most important topics to cover are?" "Diet and habitat." "Okay, I'll write those in bubbles connected to the center circle. What else?" (Teacher writes as student brainstorms.) |
Now go here to discuss your deep dive.