Peer Edit with Perfection! Tutorial

Peer Editing is Fun! Working with your classmates to help improve their writing can be lots of fun. But first, you have to learn what it means to “peer edit” and how to do it!

What is Peer Editing? A peer is someone your own age. Editing means making suggestions, comments, compliments, and changes to writing.  Peer editing means working with someone your own age – usually someone in your class – to help improve, revise, and edit his or her writing.

3 Steps to Peer Editing There are three important steps to remember when you are peer editing another student’s writing. Step 1 – Compliments Step 2 – Suggestions Step 3 - Corrections

STEP 1 Compliments The first rule of peer editing is to STAY POSITIVE! –Remember, you’re helping to change someone else’s work. Think about how you would feel if someone were telling you what needed to be improved in your own writing…

STEP 1 Compliments Always start your peer editing with compliments! –Tell the writer what you think he or she did well: I really loved your topic I think you used a lot of good details I liked when you used the word ______ My favorite part was ________ because… This was really fun to read because… I liked the way you_________…

STEP 1 Compliments Read the paragraph on the next slide. Record three compliments about the paragraph that you would tell the author if you were peer editing this paper.

STEP 1 Compliments We where all over my aunts house when my dog Riley was running around like crazy. He was chasing me around in circles. all of a suden I look and riley he was in the pool! swimming in my aunts pool. I couldn’t believe my eyes that the dog was in the pool. I dashed to the pool and jumpd in and swan over to Riley and pulled him to the steps. He got out and shook all over us like a sprinkler on a hot day. I was glad riley was o.k. and that I saved him.

STEP 2 Suggestions Making suggestions means giving the author some specific ideas about how to make his or her writing better. Remember – stay positive and be specific! –Instead of, “It didn’t make sense,” say, “If you add more details after this sentence, it would be more clear.” –Instead of, “Your word choice was boring,” say, “Instead of using the word good, maybe you can use the word exceptional.”

STEP 2 Suggestions Here are some areas that you may want to make suggestions about: –Word choice – Did the author choose interesting words? –Using details (for example, seeing, hearing, touching, tasting, and smelling) –Organization – Can you understand what the author is trying to say? Is it in the correct sequence? –Sentences – Are the sentences too long or too short? –Topic – Does the author stick to the topic or talk about other things that don’t really fit?

STEP 2 Suggestions Read the paragraph on the next slide again. Record three suggestions about the paragraph that you would tell the author if you were peer editing this paper.

STEP 2 Suggestions We where all over my aunts house when my dog Riley was running around like crazy. He was chasing me around in circles. all of a suden I look and riley he was in the pool! swimming in my aunts pool. I couldn’t believe my eyes that the dog was in the pool. I dashed to the pool and jumpd in and swan over to Riley and pulled him to the steps. He got out and shook all over us like a sprinkler on a hot day. I was glad riley was o.k. and that I saved him.

STEP 3 Corrections The third step in the peer editing process is making corrections. Corrections means checking your peer’s paper for: –Spelling mistakes –Grammar mistakes –Missing punctuation –Incomplete or run-on sentences

STEP 3 Corrections Read through the paragraph again on your worksheet. Circle, underline, or use editing marks to correct errors in spelling, punctuation, or grammar.

Things to Remember… Stay positive – Try to make suggestions and corrections in a positive way. Be specific – Give the author specific ideas on how to improve his or her writing. Complete all 3 steps – compliments, suggestions, and corrections. Copyright 2004 IRA/NCTE. All rights reserved. ReadWriteThink materials may be reproduced for educational purposes. Images copyright Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.

Let’s practice with these I woke up Friday morning and guess what? It was snowing! I hurried to the kitchen and flicked on the Weather Channel. School was closed. Then I suddenly realized that I could do whatever I wanted. I could go sledding, build a snowfort, or even go shopping. It was a dream come true! First I went sledding, and I had a great time! There is a steep hill behind my yard, and I decided to sled down it. I got on my sled and zoom I was off! My sled went as fast as a speeding bullet. Then my sled stopped. I got a little dizzy so I didn’t do it again. That was the best. Next I built a snowfort and it was awsome! There was a tunnel go through and the snowfort looked a little like an igloo. I made snow chairs, snowtables, and even snow pizza. It was the greatest snowfort I ever built. Finally I went shopping. I bought two $30.00 Bratz ™ with my birthday money. They were fabulous. I also bought the Sims ™ Unleashed ™. I loved my new toys. I have to attmit that snowday was awsome. I did everything I wanted. It was definitly the best day of my life! I loved that day and I’ll never forget it.

How about this one? Most of us are lucky enough to have snow days. They are extremely fun! In one of my snow days I went sledding, built a few snowmen, had snowball fights also I just watched the snow. It was a freezing day out as I feel fast asleep. The next morning I looked out my window, it looked like someone spread frosting on the ground. We all ran down stairs to see if school was closed. “Yes!” my family and I yelled when we saw our schools were closed. We all dash for our coats and mittens. After getting our coats and mittens we drove to the biggest hill in [name of town]. When we got there, there was barely anyone there but us! We were going to race! Bang! we were all of like a couple of racehorses. I was going towards the final jump when my big brother [Brother’s Name] cut me off. I spun backwards by mistake and went off the jump backwards. Splash! I landed in a pile of snow. I didn’t want to sled anymore. After getting the snow out of my jacket we felt like having a snowman contest. We did our snowmen so they looked funny. My snowman was a little weird. His body was smaller than his head. We all laughed at each others until we thought it was a draw! After that I thought we should have a snowball fight. It was tough to get [Brother’s Name] and his two friends to join. Me and my friend [Friend’s Name] both said that [Brother’s Name] could put snow down our backs if he won. It ended up with [Brother’s Name] as the winner. Me and [Friend’s Name] were in despair as we ran away! It was a day I will never forget!

REMEMBER OUR STEPS 1. COMPLIMENT 2. SUGGESTIONS 3. CORRECTIONS