Peer Review 

The ultimate goal of the peer review process is to help us develop the skills necessary to objectively review our own work in an effort to become better writers. This process will also help us to become more critical readers in that as we learn to read for these answers we are relating with the text at a deeper structural level rather than just scanning the surface.

Peer review is the process of having your child's paper read in a small group of classmates, usually 3 or 4, and using the following questions.
 

Is your thesis (main idea/purpose of paper) clearly stated and evident in the opening of your paper?

Are your ideas (arguments) presented with clarity?

Does your paper exhibit cohesion (unity and flow) from one paragraph to another?

Is your idea (argument) coherent (easy to understand)? Does it logically connect from one idea to the next or does it lack organization?

Is your language usage concise (can you say the same thing with less words)?

Is your paper structured to allow for readability and  comprehension, making best use of emphasis and language to make your voice authentic (does this paper sound like you)?

If you have quoted any outside sources, is your documentation correctly identified?
 

Please remember: This review is to be performed with the criteria listed above and is not to contain criticism about the opinions or arguments contained in the paper. Anyone one violating this policy will not only fail the peer review process but will receive an incomplete for their own paper. This process is designed to help us become better writers and for this to work we have to be able to trust one another completely.

 A newsletter distributed in class makes full use of the vocabulary used to discuss the peer review process and  writing in general.  By asking your child to find these elements in other examples of writing they are being encouraged  to think about those elements when doing their own writing. We will not just be reading papers produced by fellow students for the peer review process but will be reading samples of writing's "biggies" to see how they used the elements listed above.

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