World History Connected Home    
 
 
Home List journal issues Table of contents
Printer-friendly format  Article citation        
   

RAFTing on the Great New Sea of Knowledge: Historical Role Playing for Engagement, Authenticity, and Interaction1

Helen Gregg and Jeremy Greene

 

     

     Judicious and appropriate use of student role-playing can offer great dividends in student course buy-in, as well as learning. The problem for most instructors is how to integrate role-playing into a course, without dumbing-down the content or using too much class time. The following article shows how one method, called RAFTs (that is Role/Audience/Format/Topic; see Addenda for three examples of RAFT handouts follow the essays) gives students opportunities to take on historical roles, develop a variety of creative individual products, and share knowledge with their classmates. The article also highlights reflexive pedagogy, good listening in this case, that is capable of responding to student desires and critiques without losing sight of the standards and goals of the course. In the first few paragraphs Helen explains the concept of RAFTs; in the rest of the essay Jeremy shares an application that he has used.

     The Differentiated Instruction strategy known as the Role/Audience/Format/Topic (RAFT) was during the first year of teaching Advanced Placement World History (WHAP) in 2002-03.2 The rationale was that since we were jumping into this new curriculum with both feet, why not a really splashy cannonball? Increasingly, I began opening the decision-making in regular World History classroom by using Layered Curriculum as articulated by Dr. Kathy Nunley and menu-style work stations to differentiate for readiness and interest;3 so accepting that at a very fundamental level these teenagers in WHAP would be no different than those teenagers, the decision was made to use RAFTs as a method for my students to demonstrate mastery of the era studied. It seemed wrong for the teacher to be the only one to decide what information would be presented to students. There are so many resources that to design a class based solely on what the teacher finds interesting, just isn't right. The idea was a hit with students and their parents as most of these students excelled in a non-academic area as well. RAFTs allowed students to integrate their extra-curricular passions with our curriculum and the result was amazing. A collection of paintings, poems, speeches, videos and a set of Barbie and Ken dolls dressed in period costume whom were used as puppets to perform an original skit about the commissioning of Columbus. A CD of original music that re-scored a couple of Beach Boys songs into the Baroque Boys! How cool is that?

     Setting up a RAFT, like all project-based differentiation, requires a lot of work before introducing the idea to students. But after completing one RAFT, students need little explanation for the rest, and are very disappointed of a unit of instruction ended with anything else!! But, interestingly I think you will find the RAFT assignment is something that can be used year after year and not become stale because the combinations are almost infinite. Updating the format choices would be the only changes as new technology gets into student hands.

     The structure of a RAFT is to create lists of choices students make regarding the role of the "main character," the audience to whom the main character is directing his/her format and on what topic is the main character "performing." (see Addenda) The first paragraph of the assignment package announces/reiterates the time period just studied or being studied -- depending on when you hand the assignment package out; it became obvious that it is best to hand the assignment package out at the beginning of each unit to key students in on their "main character" who needs fleshing out. The students took much better notes and discussions were at another level because of this. Thus, the first list, the roles, is of the "important people" of that era. The second list, the audience, is groups of people who were affecting others and events or groups that were affected by others and events. The format is the most dynamic list as resources for students change from year to year. This is the list of how the project will look; is the student writing a speech, performing an original skit, painting in the style of a period artist, or creating a structure that looks like a building or village of that time? This list is as long as the imagination of the person or persons writing the RAFT. Finally, the topic comes from your teaching resources. I used several resources and considered whether a topic would fit a list like this. Sometimes a topic might seem really important but is a research nightmare for tenth graders, and that should be taken into consideration. The first RAFT proved that sometimes a topic the teacher thinks would be a research winner ends up as a real nightmare. You might think that would be "no big deal" but students of this caliber REALLY do not like changing topics or RAFT project once begun. I discovered that I am not the only stubborn person in the world. Presentations were done in a Country Fair type of format in which half the class had the "booths" one day with the other half moving from one to the other, taking notes and asking questions and the next class period they swapped places.

     RAFTs need not take on this project-like importance or end as presentations that take one to two class periods of time, but can be an on-going assessment of students' knowledge and writing.4 Time can be the main hindrance for instructors in integrating engaging activities, like role-playing into a course, when there is so much to cover. This was particularly the case for in a class taught last year, when under a new bell schedule in-class time with WHAP students was reduced by one third. One of the ways to increase student engagement in the shorter time was to begin the course with a single experimental role-playing activity during which students interacted as one of 100 famous crowd members.5 The results were encouraging, students were interested and invigorated but when finishing the activity, one student asked if the class was going to do something like this again. Knowing the syllabus, the answer had to be no.6 It was apparent this was not what the student wanted to hear. This prompted reevaluating the course, student engagement through social networking had led to student buy in and that would be costly to lose. Browsing the WHAP Lesson Jamboree,7 an intriguing assignment that involved students taking on roles. It was called RAFTs, created by Helen Gregg. Discovering this lesson format would change WHAP class for the rest of the year.

     But, just adding RAFTs to the course was not an option. If something were added, something had to go. What went, regretfully, was weekly journals (these were posted to the discussion section of our class Turnitin site). The journals had been fairly successful up to that point, but we would try replacing them with RAFTs for the unit 600-1450 (See Addendum A) and see if they were an improvement on the journals, which were reflections on activities and lessons covered in class. And they were an improvement, with some caveats. Unlike Helen, who allows students to choose any of the formats for their unit project, all required RAFTs in our WHAP course, generally one a week are writing assignments. Students can choose to do any of the other formats (for example: video, painting, or sculpture) for extra credit.8

     What was immediately successful was how student use of their role's point of view. Here are three examples from the students' first attempts:

Student example #1: Role: Young Aztec Virgin; Audience: Aztec Priest/noble; Format: Letter; and Topic: Gender Roles

Dear Eztaxlin the priest,

Soon enough we will finally be together to be one my love, our life together on this planet and this city is forbidden. But in the after life we will be together and happy. [Being] a poorer woman than you are expected to marry I will gladly sacrifice myself so that you can become more powerful my love. When my faith is concreted with my vital sacrifice the gods will surely be delighted and great me my true wish, an eternity in the afterlife with you regardless of what class we are. The anticipation is killing me, I hate being unable to do anything for myself as a women to please you more fully.

Student Example #2: Role: Mongol Leader; Audience: Peer group (council of some sort; Format: Government Document; Topic: Emergence of New Political Systems/ Impact of Mongols

Decree issued by the Khan on this day, the 8th of January, 1210 "I wish to unite the Mongols under one banner together, to create a great empire that will be unmatched!" Therefore we shall have laws. As we have begun to establish the Yassa, I hope to unite all Mongols. Our common law will put us even further above all enemies. We are the top fighters. We are feared in many lands, yet we must be revered as well. Fear can be countered by courage. Reverence is everlasting and unable to be matched. Thus, let us consider the following mandates to be added to our young Yassa: (Regarding Our Armies)

1. Every man must join the army. Exceptions will be rare and will only be allowed with written permission from [a] government official. All such decrees of permission shall be presented to my council at the end of every quarter.

2. Every man of such exception shall work for the empire. They will not receive pay for their labor.

3. Every man who is not on the fields in battle for our army shall likewise work without receiving reward; however, there time as workers will be limited to the time spent out of battle. They shall not remain laborers forever.

4. Every man who fails to abide by these rules shall be slain

5. At the start of every conquest, soldiers shall report to the leader of their unit.

6. Upon report, every soldier must pass an inspection (of their weapons and dress)

7. If any solider fail inspection within their unit, they shall not fight in battle. Instead they shall be left behind to labor at the unit's station.

8. No soldier or unit head shall negotiate with higher powers of other lands. All negotiations must come from the delegate of the unit as elected by the Khan.

9. Any negotiations delegated without permission from the Khan or from any other soldier or official outside of the elected delegate shall be subject to punishment by death.

Student Example #3: Role: #4 (Roman Catholic monk); Audience: addressing his peer group [fellow Catholics]; Format: The World - A Global Paper; Topic: The Rise of Dar al-Islam

CATHOLIC MONK SPEAKS AGAINST ISLAM

Brother Salvatore, a Roman Catholic monk shared yesterday, his opinions on the spread of the Dar-Al Islam (or House of Islam) and what it means for the Christian faith: "My brothers, as a servant of God I can only watch as this religion, Islam, gains so much popularity and feel ill in my stomach. The militaristic vision of the Islamic church is only one of the few matters that concern me. With their jihad, they plan to spread their ideals far and wide, forcing their religion upon us, trying to make us renounce the Lord. They do not follow Christ, but a man just like you or I. He is a sinner, imperfect and flawed. How then, can they pay homage to him? They are misled by him and it my belief that he enjoys playing the role of a God. Some may argue that the motives of the Muslims are good. I can recognize that. Much like us they are taught to respect one another and live peacefully and simply. However, there is much else that is inexcusable. Time and time again they have stated that our Lord, Jesus Christ was nothing more than a prophet, lesser than their own leader. They deny his crucifixion in which he died for our sins, granting us a better life. To this I can only say I will not have it. Just how long my brothers, before they are knocking down our front door? Just how long before we are forced to convert, and renounce the Lord we love? There is no time to waste. We must act swiftly and accordingly if we are to stop this menace from further encroaching on the sanctity of our faith. Thank you."

Brother Salvatore's speech was well received and he plans to go on the road, spreading his message. Starting in Rome, he will begin his travels in mid-April, traveling along the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Keep reading The World for more updates on his journey.

     The class never returned to journaling after this. Students, in general, enjoyed RAFTing more than journaling and believed them to be useful in exploring point of view (POV). One student wrote: "RAFTs are a pretty decent exercise I feel. The use of Ning with RAFTs is also a good combination. The upside to RAFTs is that it forces you to do some fairly specified research to accurately portray the role you have been given. It also allows you to write to persons who may not have been in contact in that period and create a unique almost counter-factual analysis of what that type of contact would have produced. The best roles, in my opinion, are the broader ones, especially the ones that allow for a more Marxist-style analysis, as even in World History it seems like there is still a top-heavy emphasis (the upper classes are mainly highlighted, specifically leaders), possibly due to the generalized nature of the course and the propensity of leaders to naturally take center stage in their country's history. While roles such as Wolfe Tone are more than appreciated, it is at once easier, less restrictive and more informative to work with '18th century Irish Catholic'."9

     Another student wrote: "RAFTs are very useful, because they allow you to get inside the head of a person, time period, etc. that you might ordinarily miss in a vast course such as world history. When assigned a broader RAFT role, for example, a lawyer, you get the freedom to kind of bounce around within the assigned time period thus giving you an overall feeling of how your role developed over time… Then [we can use our] research in a more creative way, [this] is a different way of learning than reading. So it mixes it up, and I personally find it easier to remember the information, though this might not be the same for everyone." And when compared to journals: "Journals don't really do anything for me, because usually it's on something we already discussed as a class, and I like discussing new topics." "I like Journals better (less work, I just express my opinion), but if I were the teacher I'd say that RAFTs are the better teaching tool. I'd suggest using a combo, which you do already." "I like journals and thought pieces because I feel like they can be used to fulfill the goal of WHAP as far as highlighting themes and patterns in history. Maybe if we combined doing the RAFTs and then taking what some people said and trying to respond to a question through learning from other people's RAFTs we could accomplish the same task while utilizing both techniques."

     "RAFTs are at times better than journals, though arguably some journals are needed. While the RAFTs do give you a perspective on society through the eyes of a fictitious person, the view is limited. World History tends towards viewing the larger trends occurring throughout the world, or through a specific society which will have later global ramifications. Journals are more useful for viewing overarching historical trends. Perhaps using a journal at the end of a unit that ties together RAFT themes could work well? Overall though, it has to be said that journals are inherently more boring than RAFTs, as RAFTs allow you to control a persona, whereas journals tend towards the traditional history teaching methods, which usually bore students. Both do have their place, however."

     But there were some complaints, mostly focusing on how having only one or two roles for five or six writing assignments was limiting: "The only thing I would change about RAFTs would be each time section I would want to have different forms to do, and try some of the other assignments. I'm not really a big fan of the newspaper assignments, personally but some of the other ones [video, powerpoint, diagram, etc.] looked really interesting." "I believe that we write too many RAFTs using the same role. Once you write one or two RAFTs, the concept becomes redundant and we stop learning things – it's just a variation of one theme. … "Especially with our next RAFT assignment [1750-1914 –see Addendum C], the roles are all generally unappealing and are quite uninteresting."

     Another student wrote: "[O]ne problem I have with RAFTs is that by picking one or two roles for a time period, we only get a limited perspective of that time period. Then, when we move on to the next era, we might pick roles that are in a completely different category - but it's a different category. So basically, I feel like we're each getting to understand a small part of each time period. If we combined all of our collective knowledge, then we'd have a much broader view of each era...but the AP test isn't a group test...at least, I d[on't] think it [is.]"

     Lastly, a good suggestion: "How about doing a combo of RAFTs and discussions? If you have people write a brief, insightful, summary of a specific group (mini-project?) and present it briefly (like 5 min or less) to the class, I think that would be wonderful. It lets people learn one topic well (like RAFTs) but still share the common knowledge with everybody (discussion) so that others don't miss out!"

     Overall, it can be said the students liked RAFTs as opposed to journals, but would like more choice when it came to roles. Every teacher would love to support this freedom, but unsurprisingly almost all the students desired the same four or five historical figures for each era. So, one should be hesitant to go that route. A better option is to expand role choices so students would have three or four roles to write from instead of two. The complaints focused on the lack of common or collective knowledge do not need to be true either. Although, not required, students can read each other's RAFTs. This has not been a required part of the assignment and thus students generally don't read each other RAFTs unless a student tells other students to check out their write-up. For the 1450-1750 RAFTs (see Addendum B) the class switched platforms from Turnitin to Ning.10 Ning works like a private Facebook, with the teacher (or creator of the Ning) as the moderator. As moderator, the teacher can delete any undesirable comments (or members). Ning also emails members when any other member posts (this can be changed if desired). These would be beneficial to controlling unsubstantive remarks. And Ning made correcting easier too. By clicking on a member's page anyone can see how many forum posts (RAFT posts in this case) they have made and to which forum. EVERY student liked the Ning platform over Turnitin.11

     Luckily, Helen Gregg the creator of the RAFTs, had submitted lessons to the jamboree for RAFTs on the WHAP units 600-1450 and 1450-1750.

     These were mostly left as is. But for 1750-1914 there was none! What to do? First and last, do not reinvent the wheel! Audiences and formats could be kept the same as the previous two RAFTs. It seemed wise to borrow the topics, with slight editing, directly from the WHAP course description (or Acorn book). The roles were borrowed from a few places: 1) James Diskant's lesson, "A News Show: Revolution and Counter-revolution, 1800-1830" in a previous World History Connected: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/6.3/diskant.html, 2) the kids could keep their roles from the National Center for History in the School's binder, "The Industrial Revolution: A Global Event,"12 and 3) several significant individuals and other composite roles I made up that connected to the WHAP topics (see Addenddum C).

     RAFTs had worked so well for WHAP it was time to try them with my regular world history classes. Possible problem – size and logistics! Three classes with 67 total students and a goal of not having students repeat roles made planning a little harder than normal. But it could be done, the final product had 134 individual, or named, roles and 26 composite characters. Each student had three roles. Students across classes would share a composite character, but it should not be the same. For instance, two students who are assigned the role of "refugee of war (1945-89)" should have different write-ups. And instead of borrowing topics from AP World, the Massachusetts History and Social Science Curriculum Framework was used for the list.13 Although some students took to the assignment quickly, in general, it took until the third RAFT write up that nearly all students were comfortable with this new assignment. What was most pleasing, was that RAFTs generated the best writing of the year for a majority of the students. Many students saw the fun in having control over so much of a writing assignment. Next year RAFTs will be part of each unit for my freshmen classes. A big change after ten years in the classroom!

     For WHAP, the advice of students will be followed, there will be more roles, so each student will have to do no more than two RAFTs from any one role. Students will also be strongly encouraged to read each other's work and thus share the collective knowledge of reading the student products. There will also be an expectation that each student comment on at least one other post, as one of their roles, to make it more interactive (there can be extra credit for doing more). Other than that, RAFTs will be kept the same for next year. Of course, looking towards the future in the 2011-12 school year I will change topics to reflect the changes in the new WHAP curriculum framework.14 And extra credit formats will expand as technology allows. For instance, students creating Glogs or Voicethreads will be an option starting next year.15 And many others, like videos or political cartoons can be placed on-line too. This allows students to view each other's work without taking up valuable class time to show their work (although this, of course, can be valuable too).

     I plan on implementing it into my freshmen world history classes for all units beginning next year. This will be my summer work. Luckily, since we have the same amount of time in freshmen classes to cover 250 years as we do to cover 12,000 in WHAP classes there will be more opportunity for students to take on a non-writing format, as Helen Gregg's students did, and also more opportunities for them to interact as their roles to other student's posts. This should make it more enjoyable for them. RAFTing is easily adaptable to other courses in the humanities. The U.S. history teachers at my school were considering building a RAFT for the end of the Civil War and Reconstruction. Again, this is quite easy to create using key figures and geographical areas to create roles, the other roles and groups of people for the audiences, keeping or increasing the formats, and borrowing the topics from the Massachusetts History Frameworks referenced earlier. It could also be used next year in International Relations class. And I could also see it usefully used in a club like Model United Nations. The point here is that you can do it to:

1) Aim not for historical reality, but historical possibility. A main focus is to keep true to the POV of your character – so though an Aztec woman and a Tropical African woman never met in the year 1300, if they had what would they have talked about? Of course, this possibility is restricted by the topics. And by some strange serendipity of RAFTing all are literate! It is important to discuss, at least briefly, why this is allowed.

2) Make sure that students use headings that state their Role, Audience, Format, and Topic. One thing that helps is numbering the roles, audiences, formats, and topics (see Addendum A – student example). This makes it easier for me to see where they should be going before I start reading the product.

3) Establish guidelines on length. Since RAFTs replaced journals, the students were already aware that I was looking for a product of at least 250 words. I was flexible with this if the students created an interesting or useful product (see student example #1).

4) Create a rubric or set of guidelines next year with input from my students.

     RAFTs do not need to be as free-wheeling as we have made them out to be. Teachers could easily restrict students to a single role, for instance, having every student write from a mill owner's perspective or all the students with their various roles could write about one topic, such as labor unions. In other words, RAFTs can be as free or restricted as a teacher wants. I can definitely see me picking a single role and single topic for the first RAFT with next year's freshmen. Then, the day after they are due we can go through several of them to see which are the best examples. In lieu of heavy correcting, what I have started to do is to try and make one comment on each post. Counseling the students, via a reply on Ning to what I like or dislike. I also like to give links for the students to show where they can find more information.

Jeremy Greene teaches freshmen world history and WHAP at Chelmsford High School, Chelmsford, MA, where he is also the International Relations advisor. He is a perpetual graduate student at Salem State College. He can be reached at worldhistoryteacher@hotmail.com

Helen Gregg is a former WHAP teacher at Salina High School Central and currently a Curriculum Technologist in the Salina district.

Addenda16

Addendum A:

RAFT1

10,000BCE-600CE

To help us navigate a review of the Foundations period, c. 10,000 BCE – 600BCE each of you will build RAFTs. This is an individual project in which you assume a role and develop a product from that role's point of view.

In this activity you will practice POV as well as analyzing information to enhance your learning and that of your colleagues. Let's begin.

There were several groups of people encountered during your study of this time period:

Foragers

Pastoralists

Farmers

River Valley citizens – Mesopotamians, Egyptians, Harappans, Shang/Huang He-ans

Buddhists, Christians, Hindus, etc. (lay and religious)

Traders

Andeans

People of the Han, western or eastern Roman, or Gupta Empires

Movers – the Bantu, Polynesians, Huns, and Germans

There are several BIG IDEAS I wanted you to capture in your study of this time period, and this activity is designed to help us all capture them clearly.

1.Environment and geography as historical actor

2. Demographic characteristics of agricultural, pastoral, and farming societies

3.Characteristics that make a civilization. Comparison of major traditions and institutions among major ancient or classical civilizations

4.Changes in social and gender structures and roles

5. Changes from connections with others or independent invention

6. Comparisons between or among river valley civilizations

7. Continuity and breaks from river valley civilizations to classical civilizations

8. Political developments in the classical era in China, India, the Mediterranean, and/or Mesoamerica

9. Major trading patterns within and among adjacent regions

10. Major changes or characteristics of the arts, sciences, and technology during the classical era

11. Comparison of the caste system to other systems of social inequality, including slavery

12. Comparison of major belief systems prior to 600 C.E.: polytheisms, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and/or Christianity. Including their spread and role of women

13. Comparison of the collapse of classical empires: Han, western Roman Empire, Gupta. Explanations for why the collapse more severe in the west

14. Greek approaches to science and philosophy

15. Political structure of classical China

In this RAFT you will consider the following:

Role: Who are you? You will choose a role which will become your POV

Audience: To whom are you writing? This will guide the type of format you choose.

Format: What form will the writing take? A newspaper editorial? A journal entry? A movie storyline? 

Topic: What subject will you choose? What will be the purpose of your project (other than to get a good grade !!)? In character, what is your purpose?

To find out ----- look at the following table and begin to make some choices. No two people in the same class can have the same choices. Don't try to figure out which one will be the easiest, because they are all hard – you don't think I would give you something easy, do you?

Decide how much you already know about the role and the topic you choose, then do some research and the role matrix BEFORE you construct your RAFT product.

The number one rule is that your product MUST be historically accurate.

ROLE

AUDIENCE

FORMAT

TOPIC

1. Shinto priest

2. Christian martyr (Levant)

3. classical Indian girl

4. classical Roman boy

5. a Hun

6. Polynesian king

7. Indian fisherman

8. Exiled Jewish merchant or craftsmen in Babylon

9. Central Asian horse breeder

10. Bantu (migrant) farmer

11. Indian outcast

12. Austronesian male

13. Japanese fisherman

14. Bedouin m/f

15. Druid

16. Khoisan (i.e. Bush/wo/man)

17. Olmec or Mayan warrior

18. North American Indian f.

19. North American Indian farmer

20. Olmec woman

21. Boudica

22. Procopius

23. Constantine

24. Siddhartha

25. Ramses II

26. Hatchepsut

27. Hammurabi

28. Nebuchadnezzar

29. Qin Shi Huangdi

30. Jesus

31. Zoroaster

32. Laozi or Lao Tse

33. Confucius

34. Aristotle

35. Ashoka

36. Pericles

37. Mahavira

38. Augustus Caesar

39. Han Feizi

40. Han Wudi

41. Chandragupta Maurya

42. Sappho

43. Sima Qian

44. Herodotus

45. Alexander the Great

1. Another Role

2. Self

3. Peer group

4. A Government

(specify which one)

5. A Committee

(specify which one)

6. A criminal court

7. A crowd of elites or elite women

8. A population in general (specify which one – economic class, women, men, workers, etc.)

9. a national(ist)/ racial group (specify which one)

10. A friend

11. The next generation

1. Newspaper Op-Ed page

2. Newspaper Front Page

3. Trial's closing argument

4. Interview with a famous person (written or videotaped*)

5. A book of etiquette

A comic book* (meaning a complete story with illustrations in color)

6. A primary document:

Letter

Painting*

Sculpture*

Government doc

Journal entries

7. A play (or scene from it)

8. A movie*

9. A music video*

10. A children's book*

11. An architectural plan* with architect's notes

* These are additional / extra credit assignments. They do not count as part of required RAFTs

1.Environment and geography as historical actor

2. Demographic characteristics of agricultural, pastoral, and farming societies

3.Characteristics that make a civilization. Comparison of major traditions and institutions among major ancient or classical civilizations

4.Changes in social and gender structures and roles

5. Changes from connections with others or independent invention

6. Comparisons between or among river valley civilizations

7. Continuity and breaks from river valley civilizations to classical civilizations

8. Political developments in the classical era in China, India, the Mediterranean, and/or Mesoamerica

9. Major trading patterns within and among adjacent regions

10. Major changes or characterisitics of the arts, sciences, and technology during the classical era

11. Comparison of the caste system to other systems of social inequality, including slavery

12. Comparison of major belief systems prior to 600 C.E.: polytheisms, Hinduism, Jainism, Confucianism, Daoism, Buddhism, and/or Christianity. Including their spread and role of women

13. Comparison of the collapse of classical empires: Han, western Roman Empire, Gupta. Why was the collapse more severe in the west

14. Greek approaches to science and philosophy

15. Political structure of classical China

ROLE DEFINITION MATRIX

Name ______________________ My topic: _______________________________________

Remember: The "I" in all the questions is your ROLE, not you as you are now.

DUE DATE:

Personality

Who am I?

 

What perspective would my role have on the chosen topic?

 

What are some aspects of my character?

 

How can I give my role some personality?

 

Attitude

Why do I care about this particular topic?

 

What are my feelings, beliefs, ideas, and concerns?

 

What emotions might I be feeling as I think about this topic?

 

Is this a role that might lead me to be in favor or against something related to this topic?

 

Could a person in my role have a choice of several viewpoints on this topic?

What are they?

 

Which viewpoint might appeal to me the most?

 

Information

What needs to be shared in this project?   Write a summary of the idea you want you audience to learn from your work. 

 

What is the major concern of this topic and under what essay characteristic does it belong – and why? (PESC)

 

What information needs to be examined carefully for the chosen role?  How does this figure fit into the overall historical picture?

 

EXAMPLE (from 600-1450 RAFT)

RAFT:
Role: #4 Roman Catholic Monk
Audience: #3 Fellow Catholics
Format: #3 newspaper
Topic: #3 Islam

#4 (Roman Catholic monk) addressing his peer group in the form of a newspaper

front page on the rise of the Dar-Al Islam

The World - A global paper

CATHOLIC MONK SPEAKS AGAINST ISLAM

Speaking in front of a large congregation of his peers, Brother Salvatore, a Roman Catholic monk shared yesterday, his opinions on the spread of the Dar-Al Islam
(or House of Islam) and what it means for the Christian faith:

"My brothers, as a servant of God I can only watch as this religion, Islam, gains so
much popularity and feel ill in my stomach. The militaristic vision of the Islamic church is only one of the few matters that concern me. With their jihad, they plan to spread their ideals far and wide, forcing their religion upon us, trying to make us renounce the Lord. They do not follow Christ, but a man just like you or I. He is a sinner, imperfect and flawed. How then, can they pay homage to him? They are misled by him and it my belief that he enjoys playing the role of a God. Some may argue that the motives of the Muslims are good. I can recognize that. Much like us they are taught to respect one another and live peacefully and simply. However, there is much else that is inexcusable. Time and time again they have stated that our Lord, Jesus Christ was nothing more than a prophet, lesser than their own leader. They deny his crucifixion in which he died for our sins, granting us a better life. To this I can only say I will not have it. Just how long my brothers, before they are knocking down our front door? Just how long before we are forced to convert, and renounce the Lord.

Brother Salvatore's speech was well received and he plans to go on the road,
spreading his message. Starting in Rome, he will begin his travels in mid-April, traveling along the edge of the Mediterranean Sea. Keep reading The World for more updates on his journey.

Addendum B:

RAFT2

600-1450 C.E.

To help us navigate this time period, each of you will build a RAFT (Role Audience Format Topic). This is an individual writing/project in which you assume a role and develop a product from that role's point of view. In this activity you will practice POV as well as analyzing information to enhance your learning and that of your colleagues. Let's begin:

1.     There were several groups of people encountered during our study of 600-1450 CE.

Muslims

Byzantines

Early Medieval Europeans

Crusaders

Asians (Tang and Song)

Aztecs

Incas

Mongols

Tropical Africans

Mali Africans

Mamlukes (sometimes spelled Mameluks)

East Asians during the Ming Empire

Japanese

Late Middle Ages Europeans

2.     There were several BIG IDEAS I want you to capture in your study of 600-1450CE, and this activity is designed to help us all review and/or capture them clearly.

Emergence of new empires and political systems

Impact of the Mongols

Rise and role of Dar al-Islam ("Abode (or House) of Islam" or "House of Submission" since Islam means "submission")

The role of the caliphate

Shifts in interregional trade (Trans-Saharan Trade,

Indian Ocean Trade, Silk Road Trade)

Growth and role of cities

Gender systems (roles of women and men in different societies – contributions of women/impact on women)

Chinese influence (Tang, Song, Ming)

Restructuring of European economic, social and

political institutions (remember 600-1450)

Division of Christendom into Eastern and Western

Cultures

Social, cultural, economic and political patterns of the

Maya, Aztec, and Inca

Impact of migrations (moguls, Aztecs, Turks,

Vikings, Arabs, Bantu, European)

Japanese and European Feudalism

Chinese civil service exam and Neo-Confucianism

3. In this RAFT you will consider the following:

Role: Who are you? You will choose a role which will become your POV

Audience: To whom are you writing? This will guide the type of format you choose.

Format: What form will the project take? Front page of a newspaper? Journal entries? A movie?         

Topic: What subject will you choose? What will be the purpose of your writing

(other than to get a good grade !!) In character, what is your purpose?

To find out ----- look at the following table and begin to make some choices. No two people in the same class can have the same choices. Don't try to figure out which one will be the easiest, because they are all hard – you don't think I would give you something easy, do you?

Decide how much you already know about the role and the topic you choose. If you feel you don't know very much, then do some research and then do the role matrix BEFORE you construct your RAFT product. Please post products to turnitin.com discussion section or bring them on the due dates (see syllabus and in-class clarifications).

The number one rule is that your product MUST be historically realistic.3

ROLE

AUDIENCE

FORMAT

TOPIC

1. Muslim traveler thru Dar-al-Islam

2. Islamic woman

3. Muslim convert

4. Roman Catholic monk

5. Orthodox Catholic priest

6. A Pope

7. A Patriarch

8. Byzantine Royalty

9. East Asian during Tang-man

10. East Asian during Tang-woman

11. East Asian during Song-man

12. East Asian during Song-woman

13. East Asian during Ming-man

14. East Asian during Ming-woman

15. East Asian merchant/trader

16. Aztec – man (priest/noble)

17. Aztec – man (warrior/scribe)

18. Aztec – man (laborer)

19. Aztec – man (farmer)

20. Aztec – woman (virgin/maiden)

21. Aztec – woman (wife/mother)

22. Aztec – child (girl)

23. Aztec – child (boy)

24. Inca – man (priest/noble)

25. Inca – man (warrior/scribe)

26. Inca – man (laborer)

27. Inca – man (farmer)

28. Inca – woman (virgin/maiden)

29. Inca – woman (wife/mother)

30. Bedouin trans-Saharan trader

31. trader in Malacca

32. Mongol leader

33. Mongol nomad – man

34. Mongol nomad - woman

35. Tropical African – man

36. Tropical African – woman

37. hajj attendee with Mansa Musa

38. Mali African – woman

39. Mamluk (Mameluk)

40. Feudal Japanese Woman

41. Feudal Japanese Shogun

42. Feudal Japanese Samurai

43. Feudal Japanese Serf

44. Feudal European Lord

45. Feudal European Woman

46. Feudal Euro. Knight/Crusader

47. Feudal European Serf

48. Swahili coast sailor

49. Jesuit missionary to China

50. Sultan of Delhi

1. Another person on the role chart

2. Self

3. Peer group

4. A Government

Specify which

one

5. A Committee

Specify which

one

6. A criminal court

7. A crowd of elites

8. A crowd of serfs

9. A group of women

10. A group of men

11. A group of priests or monks 12. Next generation

1. Letter (this is only for Audience #1)

2. Newspaper Op-Ed page

3. Newspaper Front Page

4. Trial's closing argument

5. Interview with a famous person (written or videotaped*)

6. A book of etiquette

7. A comic book (meaning a complete story with illustrations in color)*

8. A primary document:

Painting*

Sculpture*

Government doc

Journal entries

9. A play

10. A movie*

11. A music video*

12. A children's book*

13. An architectural plan with architect's notes*

14. Triptych of stain glass (done with black construction paper and colored tissue paper) with a monk's notes*

*These would be extra credit, depending on the quality and shown in class (on the wall) or on a Powerpoint.

1. Emergence of new

empires and political

systems

2. Impact of the Mongols

3. Rise and role of Dar al-

Islam ("House of Islam"

or "House of

Submission" since Islam

means "submission"

4. The role of the caliphate or the Papacy

5. Shifts in interregional

trade (Trans-Saharan

Trade, Indian Ocean

Trade, Silk Road Trade)

6. Growth and role of cities

7. Gender systems (roles

of women and men in

different societies –

contributions of

women/impact on

women)

8. Chinese influence

(Tang, Song, Ming)

9. Restructuring of

European economic,

social and political

institutions (remember

600-1450)

10. Division of

Christendom into Eastern

and Western cultures

11. Social, cultural,

economic and political

patterns of the Maya,

Aztec, and Inca

12. Impact of migrations and expansions

(Moguls, Mongols, Aztecs, Turks, Vikings, Arabs, Bantu, European crusades)

13. Comparison of

Japanese and European

Feudalism

14. Chinese civil service exam and Neo-Confucianism

Addendum C:

RAFT4

1450-1750CE

To help us navigate a review of 1450-1750CE each of you will build a RAFT. This is an individual project in which you assume a role and develop a product from that role's point of view.

In this activity you will practice POV as well as analyzing information to enhance your learning and that of your colleagues. Let's begin.

There were several groups of people encountered during your study of this time period:

Amerindians

Europeans

Africans

Muslims

Russians

Chinese

Mughals

There are several BIG IDEAS I wanted you to capture in your study of this time period, and this activity is designed to help us all capture them clearly.

Causes of changes from the previous period and within this period.

Changes in trade, technology, and global interactions

(examples: relations between the Kongo and Portugal or the Columbian Exchange)

Major empires and other political units & social systems -----Ottoman, China, Portugal, Spain, Russia, France, England, Tokugawa, Mughal, characteristics of African empires in general but knowing one (Kongo, Benin, Oyo, Songhay) as illustrative

Gender and empire (including the role of women in households and in politics)

Neoconfucianism

European absolutism

Protestant Reformation

Siege of Vienna Slave systems and slave trade (plantation system)

Demographic and environmental changes: diseases, animals, new crops, and comparative population trends

Cultural and intellectual developments:

Scientific Revolution

Comparative global causes and impacts of cultural change

Changes and continuities in Confucianism

Major developments and exchanges in the arts (e.g. Mughal)

Ottoman conquest of Constantinople

Importance of European exploration

In this RAFT you will consider the following:

Role: Who are you? You will choose a role which will become your POV

Audience: To whom are you writing? This will guide the type of format you choose.

Format: What form will the writing take? A newspaper editorial? A journal entry? A movie storyline?

Topic: What subject will you choose? What will be the purpose of your project (other than to get a good grade !!)? In character, what is your purpose?

To find out ----- look at the following table and begin to make some choices. No two people in the same class can have the same choices. Don't try to figure out which one will be the easiest, because they are all hard – you don't think I would give you something easy, do you?

Decide how much you already know about the role and the topic you choose, then do some research and the role matrix BEFORE you construct your RAFT product.

The number one rule is that your product MUST be historically accurate.

ROLE

AUDIENCE

FORMAT

TOPIC

1. Islamic man Ottoman Empire

2. Islamic woman Ottoman

3. Empire

4. Islamic man Shi'ite Islam

5. Islamic woman Shi'ite Islam

6. Islamic Mufti

7. Citizen of Constantinople

8. Citizen of Vienna

9. Russian leader

10. Mughal leader

11. Ottoman leader

12. Safavid leader

13. Amerindian leader

14. European leader

15. Explorer

16. Merchant

17. Lawyer

18. Ship Captain

19. Plantation Owner

20. Scientist

21. Jesuit missionary – New Spain

22. Njinga Mbande

23. Affonso I of Kongo

24. Montezuma

25. Atahualpa

26. Metacomet

27. Mehmed II

28. Akbar

29. Ferdinand and Isabella

30. Louis XIV

31. Kangxi

32. Peter the Great

1. Another Role

2. Self

3. Peer group

4. A Government

(specify which one)

5. A Committee (specify which one)

6. A criminal court

7. A crowd of elites

8. A population in general

9. A group of women

10. A group of men

11. A group of priests or monks

12. A friend

13. The next generation

1. Newspaper Op-Ed page

2. Newspaper Front Page

3. Trial's closing argument

4. Interview with a famous person (written or videotaped*)

5. A book of etiquette

6. A comic book* (meaning a complete story with illustrations in color)

7. A primary document

Letter

Painting*

Sculpture*

Government doc

Journal entries

8. A play

9. A movie*

10. A music video*

11. A children's book*

12. An architectural plan* with architect's notes

* These are additional / extra credit assignments. They do not count as part of required RAFTs

1.Causes of changes from the previous period and within this period.

2.Changes in trade, technology, and global interactions (exs. Columbian Exchange or Relations between Kongo and Portugal)

3.Major empires and other political units & social systems -----Ottoman, China, Portugal, Spain, Russia, France, England, Tokugawa, Mughal, characteristics of African empires in general but knowing one (Kongo, Benin, Oyo, Songhay) as illustrative

3.Gender and empire (including the role of women in households and in politics)

4.Neoconfucianism

5.European absolutism

6.Protestant Reformation

7.Siege of Vienna

8.Slave systems and slave trade (plantation system)

9.Demographic and environmental changes: diseases, animals, new crops, and comparative population trends

10.Cultural and intellectual developments:

10a Scientific Revolution

10b Comparative global causes and impacts of cultural change

10c Changes and continuities in Confucianism

10d Major developments and exchanges in the arts (e.g. Mughal)

11.Ottoman conquest of Constantinople

12.Importance of European exploration

13. Russian interaction with the Ottoman Empire, China, Western

Europe or Eastern Europe

RAFT5

1750-1914CE

To help us navigate a review of 1750-1914 CE each of you will build a RAFT. This is an individual project in which you assume a role and develop a product from that role's point of view.

In this activity you will practice POV as well as analyzing information to enhance your learning and that of your colleagues. Let's begin.

There were several groups of people encountered during your study of this time period:

Amerindians

Europeans

Africans

Muslims

U.S. Americans

Russians

Chinese

Indians (people living on the subcontintent)

Latin Americans

Capitalists and workers

There are several BIG IDEAS I wanted you to capture in your study of this time period, and this activity is designed to help us all capture them clearly.

1.Causes of changes from the previous period and within this period.

2.Changes in global and inter-regional commerce, communication, technology, and global interactions – especially the Industrial Revolution (ex. Suez Canal)

3.Rise of Western dominance and reaction to it in various places: Ottoman Empire, China (wars and rebellions), India (Congress Movement), Southeast Asia, Africa (Muhammad Ali's rule, pan-Africanism), Japan (Meiji Restoration)

4.Changes in social and gender structures (end of slavery, labor systems, IR, women's emancipation, and gender roles)

5.Enlightenment thought &/or French Rev. practices

6.Latin American Independence movements

7. Cultural and artistic borrowing

8.Orientalism

9.Slave systems and slave trade (plantation system)

10.Rise of nations, nationalism, and political reform

11. Social Darwinism

12. Marxism

In this RAFT you will consider the following:

Role: Who are you? You will choose a role which will become your POV

Audience: To whom are you writing? This will guide the type of format you choose.

Format: What form will the writing take? A newspaper editorial? A journal entry? A movie storyline?

Topic: What subject will you choose? What will be the purpose of your project (other than to get a good grade !!)? In character, what is your purpose?

To find out ----- look at the following table and begin to make some choices. No two people in the same class can have the same choices. Don't try to figure out which one will be the easiest, because they are all hard – you don't think I would give you something easy, do you?

Decide how much you already know about the role and the topic you choose, then do some research and the role matrix BEFORE you construct your RAFT product.

The number one rule is that your product MUST be historically accurate.

ROLE

AUDIENCE

FORMAT

TOPIC

1. Clemens von Metternich

2. Castlereagh

3. King Frederick II of Prussia

4. Tsar Alexander I of Russia

5. Prime Minister Talleyrand

6. Emperor Qianlong

7. Sultan Mahmud II

8. John Quincy Adams (creator of the Monroe Doctrine, defender of the Amistad sailors, also defender of the British in the Opium War)

9. Simon Bolivar

10. Touissaint L'Ouverture

11. Sequoya

12. Olaudah Equiano

13. Jose Marti

14. Mohandas Gandhi

15. Wolfe Tone

16. Olympe De Gouges (salon)

17. William Walker

18. Muhammad Ali

19. Emperor Meiji

20. Maximilien Robespierre

21. Gertrude Bell

(person from Industrial Revolution role play)

22. Creole, LatinAmerica

23. Mestizo, Latin America

24. Mulatto, Latin America

25. Cajun, Louisiana

26. Serf, Russia

27. U.S. slave and/or sharecropper

28. Ottoman leader

29. Ethiopian leader

30. Boer

31. Zulu

32. European leader

33. African Explorer

34. Merchant

35. Colonial Lawyer

36. Atlantic Ship Captain

37. Plantation Owner, Brazil

38. Scientist

39. U.S. Indian leader, 1865-90

40. International banker

41. Ashanti leader

42. plantation worker – Congo or SE Asia

43. Haitian citizen

1. Another Role

2. Self

3. Peer group

4. A Government

(specify which one)

5. A Committee

(specify which one)

6. A criminal court

7. A crowd of elites or elite women

8. A population in general (specify which one – economic class, women, men, workers, etc.)

9. a national(ist)/ racial group (specify which one)

10. A friend

11. The next generation

1. Newspaper Op-Ed page

2. Newspaper Front Page

3. Trial's closing argument

4. Interview with a famous person (written or videotaped*)

5. A book of etiquette

A comic book* (meaning a complete story with illustrations in color)

6. A primary document

Letter

Painting*

Sculpture*

Government doc

Journal entries

7. A play (or scene from it)

8. A movie*

9. A music video*

10. A children's book*

11. An architectural plan* with architect's notes

* These are additional / extra credit assignments. They do not count as part of required RAFTs

1.Causes of changes from the previous period and within this period.

2.Changes in global and inter-regional commerce, communication, trade, technology, and global interactions – especially resulting from the Industrial Revolution (ex. Suez Canal)

3.Rise of Western dominance and reaction to it:

3a. Ottoman Empire

3b. China (Opium War, Taiping Rebellion, Boxer Rebellion)

3c. India (Congress Movement)

3d. Southeast Asia

3e. Japan (Meiji Restoration)

3f. Africa (including pan-Africanism and Muhammad Ali of Egypt)

4.Changes in social and gender structures (end of slavery, labor systems, IR and gender roles – women's emancipation)

5.Enlightenment thought &/or French Rev. practices

6.Latin American Independence movements

7. Cultural and artistic borrowing

8.Orientalism

9.Slave systems and slave trade (plantation system)

10. Rise of nations, nationalism, and political reform

11. Social Darwinism

12. Marxism


 

Footnotes

1 Adapted from a lesson created by Helen Gregg, Salina High School Central, Helen.gregg@usd305.com This particular RAFT uses roles originally created or inspired by Nancy Jorczak, Council Rock High School North

2 Created by Helen Gregg, Salina High School Central, email: Helen.gregg@usd305.com

3 Except that you can write to someone else on the role list that you w/couldn't have had contact with and create something is completely unlikely you would have (ex. comic book)

4 Created by Helen Gregg, Salina High School Central, Helen.gregg@usd305.com

5 Adapted from a lesson created by Helen Gregg, Salina High School Central, Helen.gregg@usd305.com

 

Endnotes

All websites were accessed on August 26, 2010.

1 The title is adapted from John F. Kennedy's speech on why the United States needed a space program: "We set sail on this new sea because there is new knowledge to be gained." The authors hope lessons like this lead to teachers opening up their classrooms to what is commonly called Web 2.0 and to creative assessments of students. Kennedy's speech can be found here: http://www.historyplace.com/speeches/jfk-space.htm. Web 2.0 is defined here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Web_2.0

2 Helen Gregg is the author of this part of the essay.

3 Dr. Kathy Nunley's Layered Curriculum Website for Educators can be found here: http://www.help4teachers.com/

4 Jeremy Greene is the author of the rest of the essay.

5 The activity forces each student to role-play several of the historical actors portrayed in the painting "Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante." They then write to the other characters in the painting and had to reply to each post their character received. I called this activity the "Twittering Masses" because students were limited in their messages to 140 words (what I called "the expanded Twitter", as opposed to Twitter (http://twitter.com/) that limits users to 140 characters, not words; called tweets). Most students enjoyed this greatly, and the on-line interaction of social networking was at once interesting and invigorating to the students.

Discussing the Divine Comedy with Dante can be found here: http://cliptank.com/, here: Matthew Moore, "103 Famous Faces in One Painting," March 16, 2009: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/howaboutthat/5001462/103-famous-faces-in-one-painting.html and here: Jonathan Jones, "It's the Painting the Web is Abuzz About – But what does It Mean?" March 18, 2009: http://www.guardian.co.uk/artanddesign/2009/mar/18/art-internet. The lesson is available through the WHAP Lesson Jamboree or through contacting the author.

6 Like most WHAP teachers my year is highly, one could say rigidly, planned. I can more or less say on the first day of school what the class will be doing every class of the school year.

7 The WHAP Lesson Jamboree is offered annually through the WHAP Electronic Discussion Group (EDG), or Listserv (can be linked from http://apcentral.collegeboard.com/apc/public/courses/teachers_corner/4484.html (Accessed August 26, 2010) . The Jamboree is a collection of lessons, activities, and ideas about teaching world history (most are focused on Advanced Placement) submitted by members of the listserv. It was the brainchild of Heidi Roupp and her work continues, led by the efforts of Wendy Butler. Ordering information can be found by searching Wendy Butler's name on the EDG.

8 Nor do I allow students to replace a non-writing product for a writing assignment. Maybe I should make this allowance once per unit?

9 Students could write their opinion of RAFTing for extra credit.

10 Turnitin (http://turnitin.com/static/index.html) is an on-line plagiarism prevention tool that checks for matches of paper submissions to their database and the Internet. It requires a subscription. In a short time have become a big fan of Ning and adopted it to other activities like our school's March Madness Rulers of the World Tournament (see previous World History Connected article by Grady Long and Jason Webster: http://worldhistoryconnected.press.illinois.edu/7.1/webster.html ) and to my other classes, "America and the 1960s" and "Freshmen World History, 1750-present." Currently, Ning is free to educators in North America through support from Pearson Prentice Hall. The process for applying for a free network is not explained on the main site. What the teacher has to do is pay for the Ning mini plan and then apply for a free network by following instructions found here: http://blog.ning.com/2010/06/pearson-to-provide-ning-mini-for-free-to-educators.html There are several other sites which more or less do the same thing, Yuku (http://www.yuku.com/), Nixty (http://nixty.com/), Moodle (http://moodle.org/), Vanilla Forums (http://vanillaforums.org/), and Grouply (http://www.grouply.com/), drop.io (http://drop.io/), and GROU.PS (http://grou.ps/) to name just a few. A nice article on the use of Ning (Educause, "7 Things You Should Know About …Ning," April 2008) in a political science class can be found here: http://net.educause.edu/ir/library/pdf/ELI7036.pdf

11 It should be noted that Ning or the other services listed in the previous note are excellent for supporting the types of writing that get students excited about writing. See The Innovative Educator, "The Secret to Get Every Student Excited About Writing" http://theinnovativeeducator.blogspot.com/2010/08/secret-to-getting-every-student-excited.html?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+TheInnovativeEducator+%28The+Innovative+Educator%29 published August 26, 2010. The types of writing suggested to create excitement are: "1. Email writing 2. Facebook updates and comments 3. Tweeting and replying 4. Discussion Boards – Replying and initiating topics 5. Commenting on blogs 6. Writing a guest post on a blog 7. Commenting in newspapers or magazines about a subject of interest 8. Writing an article for a newspaper or a magazine about a subject of interest 9. Writing to persuade someone / some place to do something you want them to do 10. Writing to teach others how to do something and knowing how to reach those who care" RAFTs allow students to do most of these forms of writing, if only on our forums.

12 See here for a preview: http://nchs.ucla.edu/NH153-preview.pdf and here for ordering: http://nchs.ucla.edu/World-Era7.html.

13 The framework is available here: http://www.doe.mass.edu/frameworks/hss/final.pdf

14 Proposed changes for the course, officially named "AP in 2011-12 and Beyond: Development s In AP French, AP German and AP World" can be found here: http://www.host-collegeboard.com/ap/coursechanges/pdf/AP_World_HistoryCCFramework.pdf

15 Glogs are layered posters, posters that can contain video and music among other things. The education site can be found here: http://edu.glogster.com/ . Voicethreads allows individuals to comment, usually through audio, on images or videos. The education site can be found here: http://ed.voicethread.com/ .

16 All RAFTs have the Matrix and the example included. To avoid redundancy this was eliminated in the second and third examples. After the first two RAFTs I do not have students fill out the matrix in my WHAP classes. If I were making it a single project like Helen Gregg does with her students; I would.


 
Home | List Journal Issues | Table of Contents
© 2010 by the Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois
Content in World History Connected is intended for personal, noncommercial use only. You may not reproduce, publish, distribute, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, modify, create derivative works from, display, or in any way exploit the World History Connected database in whole or in part without the written permission of the copyright holder.


Terms and Conditions of Use