Directions: Divide into groups of three to four people. Exchange papers and peer review response sheets with one another. This
sheet serves as a guide only. You should write your reactions to the papers on the response sheet and on the papers themselves.
At the end of class, you will turn in the yellow copy of the response sheet to me. Take the white copy home for yourself. Only
students who have completed a rough draft may participate in peer review. All other students should go find a computer
room and work on their papers there. Be sure to review this sheet as you revise your paper this weekend; the points I highlight
here are the same things I will be considering when I grade your final draft. Every person should read at least two drafts.
 
Here are the things you need to look at specifically.  A fuller description of each item appears below:

1. Topic Sentence
2. Transitions
3. Ending the paragraph
4. Organization
5. Sensory Details
6. Vocabulary
7. Grammar and Punctuation

• Topic Sentence: Does the paragraph have a clear topic sentence that both introduces the topic, and states an opinion or attitude about that topic?
• Transitions: Do you see clear transitions in the paragraph?  Look at p. 11 in your book and note the list of words that move the reader from one place to the next.  A good paragraph will make use of these transitions.
• Ending the paragraph: Make sure the final sentence of the paragraph clearly tells the reader that the paragraph is finished.  I recommend ending your paragraph by once again emphasizing the dominant theme, opinion, or attitude that you expressed in the topic sentence. Look at pages 15 and 16 for advice on what to do and what not to do in a closing sentence.
• Organization: Your topic sentence serves as a promise to the reader, and you must follow through with this promise.  If for example you state that the scene you're describing is depressing, then you need to make sure all the details you describe emphasize this theme.  You would not want suddenly to mention happy things in the picture.
• Sensory Details: Look closely at the sensory details in the paragraph.  Are all or most of the senses represented: taste, touch, smell, sight, sound?  Also, writers may want to explain what they are thinking as they participate in the picture.  (Remember, you are imagining that you are in the picture).  Be sure to write down on the peer response sheet any sensory details that should be included.
• Vocabulary: Does the writer use interesting words?  For example, instead of writing ran does he use scampered, hustled, jogged, sprinted, or skipped instead?
• Grammar and Punctuation: Do you see any punctuation or grammar errors?  Point these out to the writer, but don't correct them for her.  Remember, specifically, our rules for combining independent clauses.