essay revision worksheet

Editing & Proofreading Worksheets

| Candace Osmond

| Editing , Quizzes

Candace Osmond

Candace Osmond studied Advanced Writing & Editing Essentials at MHC. She’s been an International and USA TODAY Bestselling Author for over a decade. And she’s worked as an Editor for several mid-sized publications. Candace has a keen eye for content editing and a high degree of expertise in Fiction.

Editing your paper or books allows you to make your ideas and messages as clear as possible to your readers. It will help you get rid of typos, poor sentence structure, incorrect verb tenses, and more.

Do you want to enhance your editing skills? I love using editing sheets and recommend them to aspiring writers all the time. Check out our collection of printable sentence and paragraph editing worksheets. These worksheets are excellent for practicing common grammar rules and style guidelines.

What is an Editing Worksheet?

An editing worksheet is a paper or a collection of pre-made digital activities containing editing exercises. I’ve found a few online that works for me, but I’ve also made up some of my own over the years that are more specific to my styles.

Some editing worksheets are in the form of a paragraph essay for a real editing experience of manuscripts. Others contain numbered items that help learners acquire practice with grammar quizzes.

The goal of editing worksheets is to allow aspiring writers and editors to master the art of editing. This may include honing their punctuation skills, grammar abilities, and style skills.

With that being said, as a writer, I would still strongly recommend you hire an editor even after you’ve self-edited using these tips and worksheets.

Editing worksheets also encourage students to spot typing mistakes like repeated words, double spacing, and inconsistent formatting. Other editing aspects include sentence clarity, correct capitalization, and logical flow.

How Do You Practice Writing and Editing?

Writing then editing is a time-consuming process, but it gives you a chance to perfect your text. Here are some tips for practicing editing that I use for my own work.

Take your grammar skills to the next level

Take Our Copyediting Course

Have Someone Read Your Work

The peer review process will allow a fresh pair of eyes to review the descriptive details of your entire paragraph. They will spot errors you won’t, such as grammatical mistakes, typos, and poor argumentation.

Several people read over my work, so I get different sets of eyes and perspectives.

Practice the Basics

Practice capitalization rules, spelling guidelines, and the most basic grammar rules before learning complex editing skills. It’s a valuable skill you’ll be able to apply in all pieces of writing, whether academic writing or novel.

After you know the basics, you can write and edit proper sentences. You will be editing for capitalization, grammar, and punctuation errors. Then, you’re ready to enhance your vocabulary skills and add compelling details to your work.

Answer Paragraph and Sentence Worksheets

Self-grading grammar quizzes allow you to know what it’s like to be an actual editor. They will help you practice the steps to editing.

First, you need to read over the page several times. Then, read for grammar and punctuation. Before heading to the details, you also need to start with the big picture. Some questions to ask include:

• What is the author’s main point?
• Do the main points have supporting details?
• Is the document easy to understand?
• Are there errors in spelling, grammar, style, and punctuation?
• Does the paper follow proper formatting?

Editing Worksheets

Here are free printable worksheets you can answer with answer keys to give you some editing practice,

Sentence Editing Worksheets

Reviewing every sentence in a paragraph is essential for correctness. This editing process entails spotting spelling mistakes, punctuation errors, grammatical errors, and poor sentence structure.

Punctuation errors are common among improper use of question marks, quotation marks, commas, colons, and exclamation marks. Many people also get confused about the use of different dashes.

You might also encounter run-on sentences, comma splices, and the passive voice in sentences.

Lastly, don’t forget to capitalize proper nouns and the beginning of every sentence.

Revise and Edit Worksheets

Revising involves comprehensive sentence and paragraph rewrites. It focuses on content, organization, and structure of the entire piece of writing.

For instance, if you are revising, you must ensure you have complete sentences. Change your main ideas, add information, move paragraphs around, and more.

Editing focuses on the small details or every type of error. It checks individual sentences for incomplete or run-on sentences, incorrect punctuation marks, and improper spelling.

Other common mistakes include wrong verb tenses, capitalization issues, and homophone errors.

Paragraph Editing Worksheets

Editing goes beyond proofreading abilities , such as knowledge of writing conventions, editing marks, and proofreading skills. You also need to understand the whole writing process while adhering to a style guide and following a smooth flow.

This is how editing and proofreading differ. While proofreading focuses on basic errors in single sentences and words, editing is more about your paper’s overall structure and content.

Checking content for errors in spelling, grammar, capitalization, and punctuation is part of proofreading. But bad errors like a poor structure of an entire paragraph and illogical sequences are part of editing.

Turning informal text pieces into formal and professional ones is also part of editing.

Here’s a paragraph checklist that will help you with proofreading paragraphs:

• Overall structure.
• Structure within paragraphs.
• Writing style.

Once you know how to edit and proofread, the publishing process will be easier.

Grammar Editing Worksheets

Learning how to check grammar errors is an essential aspect of editing and proofing skills. Grammar does not include capitalization corrections and correct punctuation marks. Instead, here’s a list of mistakes to look for that are related to grammar.

• Word order.
• Connectors.
• Parts of speech.
• Tense and aspect.
• Determiners.

Another critical skill in grammar is understanding syntax. When editing, ensure you know the parts of a sentence to make the revised sentence sound better. Phrases, clauses, and sentence structure are other syntax elements essential in paragraph editing.

Punctuation Editing Worksheets

Editing and proofreading paragraphs include checking for different kinds of errors related to punctuation. The process is tedious because you have to look for missing speech marks, incorrect use of apostrophes and speech marks, and missing commas.

It would help if you also corrected mistakes regarding excess exclamation, hyphens and dashes, and semicolons and colons. Sentence fragments do not require a period in the end because they do not express a complete thought.

This printable worksheet contains simple sentence items that require correct punctuation.

Enhance Your Editing Skills Now!

Editing gives you a chance to fix your document for correctness, clarity, and coherence. It will help you remove distractions in grammar, structure, and vocabulary.

I hope these sentence and paragraph editing worksheets help you practice how to revise and edit papers. Enhance your spelling, grammar, and style guidelines with these five printable activities.

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Proofreading Editing Worksheets

Printable proofreading worksheets for building grammar, spelling, and writing skills. Each file has a short paragraph on it. Students read carefully and look for errors in capitalization, spelling, and punctuation.

Editing Passages

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Proofreading bookmarks.

Correct the errors in the sentences. This series can be used as a daily or weekly review, or use the individual worksheets for extra practice.

These worksheets feature practice with periods, question marks, exclamation points, commas, and quotation marks.

Worksheets for sentences, nouns, verbs, adjectives, adverbs, pronouns, and more.

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Editing and Revising Templates

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Mastering the Art of Revising and Editing with Worksheets: A Comprehensive Guide

Writing is a dynamic process that involves multiple stages of evaluation your own work, including revising and editing. These steps are crucial for refining your work, improving clarity, and enhancing overall quality. To assist you in honing your editing skills and practicing effective revising techniques, the use of worksheets is invaluable.

What is Revising and Editing?

Why is revising and editing important the power of revising and editing worksheets, guided practice and formative assessment, revising and editing examples and answer keys, proper conventions and editing marks, easy grading and progress tracking, the revising and editing process.

To illustrate the practical application of activities on these worksheets, let's consider a guided practice scenario:

Imagine a worksheet with the following questions:

• Does the introduction effectively engage readers?
• Are the main points well-supported with evidence?
• Do the paragraphs flow logically and have proper transitions?
• Is there correct grammar, punctuation marks (i.e. question marks, commas, periods), and word usage?
• Are there sentence fragments or complete sentences? Are there run on sentences?
• Are there capitalization corrections, proper nouns, and other mistakes for students to rewrite?

Often students struggle with this part of the publishing process. The goal is for students to be able to demonstrate their understanding by applying the necessary techniques to revise and edit any sentence correctly with editing practice. By carefully following the guidelines and examples provided in the practice worksheets, students will learn how to revise and edit sentences correctly, ensuring clarity and precision in their writing.

Tips on How to Make a Revising and Editing Worksheet

• Set Objectives: Clearly define the goals of the practice worksheets, focusing on correcting sentences effectively.
• Select Samples: Choose relevant writing samples for students to practice.
• Identify Areas: Highlight specific areas to address, using a revising and editing checklist to differentiate between the two.
• Pose Questions: Create concise prompts for evaluating content, organization, grammar, and punctuation.
• Provide Examples: Illustrate correct and incorrect usage to enhance understanding.
• Allow Revisions: Allocate space for direct revisions on the samples to encourage hands-on application.
• Offer Resources: Provide style guides and editing marks as references.
• Ensure Clarity: Create visually appealing, user-friendly worksheets with clear instructions.
• Stress Importance: Edit and revise worksheets to reinforce the significance of these steps for polished writing.

Even More Storyboardthat Resources and Free Printables

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How to Make an Editing and Revising Worksheet

Choose one of the premade templates.

We have lots of templates to choose from. Take a look at our example for inspiration!

Click on “Copy Template”

Once you do this, you will be directed to the storyboard creator.

Give Your Worksheet a Name!

Be sure to call it something related to the topic so that you can easily find it in the future.

Edit Your Worksheet

This is where you will include directions, specific images, and make any aesthetic changes that you would like. The options are endless!

Click "Save and Exit"

When you are finished, click this button in the lower right hand corner to exit your storyboard.

From here you can print, download as a PDF, attach it to an assignment and use it digitally, and more!

Happy Creating!

Frequently Asked Questions About Editing and Revising

What is the difference between revising and editing.

Revising involves substantial changes to the content and structure, focusing on ideas and organization; it focuses on the big picture. Editing fine-tunes grammar, punctuation, and language usage; it polishes the details. Both are essential for high-quality writing.

Are there any recommended resources or tools for improving revising and editing skills?

Recommended resources for improving these skills include style guides, grammar and editing software, writing workshops and courses, writing communities and forums, written guides, and writing tutoring services. Practice and consistency are crucial for improvement.

Can revising and editing worksheets be useful for both academic and creative writing?

These worksheets are valuable for academic and creative writing. They help refine arguments, improve organization, enhance clarity, and ensure adherence to guidelines in academic writing. In creative writing, they assist with refining storytelling techniques, developing characters, strengthening plotlines, and improving overall impact. Worksheets provide structure, encourage critical thinking, and help writers achieve desired outcomes in any genre.

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Editing and Proofing Worksheets

A vital skill for young writers is to be able to revise and edit their writing. Recognizing an error in spelling, punctuation, grammar, and word usage takes some practice. The worksheets listed below give your student this important practice. You may use them for free in your classroom or at home. To read more about them or to download a printable PDF, simply click on the title. Check out all of our writing worksheets !

Make the Spelling Corrections

Encourage your students to look for spelling corrections with this “Correcting, Proofing, and Editing” worksheet.

Correct It!

Use this “Correcting, Proofing, and Editing” activity to teach your students the importance of proofreading by correcting spelling mistakes.

Correct the Paragraph

Have your students proofread and correct paragraphs with this helpful editing worksheet.

Correct the Spelling

Teaching your students to correct spelling is made easier with this helpful, printable writing activity.

Correcting Mistakes: Rewrite the Sentences

Encourage your students to check for sentence mistakes with this “Rewrite the Sentences” classroom activity.

Spot It: Unnecessary Words

Practice identifying unnecessary words with this printable worksheet on editing and proofing. Students will be asked to read through a series of sentences and circle the ones that contain unnecessary words. This activity is great for use both at home and in the classroom.

Spot It! Faulty Coordination

Help your students with their reading and writing skills by using this printable activity in class. With this worksheet on editing and proofing, students will be asked to read through ten sentences and identify the ones that contain faulty coordination. Ideal for 5th – 8th grade, but can be used where appropriate.

Correcting Mistakes in Sentences

Use these printable learning materials to teach your students how to correct sentence mistakes.

Editing and Proofing a Paragraph

Your students will further their editing and proofing skills by correcting a paragraph in this printable classroom worksheet.

Find the Misplaced Modifiers

See if you can identify the other misplaced modifiers in this printable grammar worksheet. This grammar activity for middle school students is great for improving reading and writing skills. While it is ideal for 7th – 9th grade, it can be used where needed. This misplaced modifiers activity is perfect for both parents and teachers to use in the classroom or at home.

Spelling: What’s Wrong, and What’s Right?

Your students will learn the difference between right and wrong in spelling with this “Proofing and Editing” worksheet.

Spot it! Which Are Grammatically Correct?

With this printable worksheet on editing and proofing, students will be asked to circle the number of the sentence that is grammatically correct. Ideal for 6th – 12th grade students, but can be used where needed.

Correct Spelling: Right or Wrong

In this “Right or Wrong” classroom activity, your students will correct spelling mistakes while proofreading the sentences on this worksheet.

Find It! Faulty Parallel Construction

Practice recognizing faulty parallel construction by completing this printable worksheet. This activity focuses on refining editing and proofing skills. It is ideal for high school students, but can be used where appropriate. Because it is made easy to print, this worksheet is great for use both at home and in the classroom by parents, teachers, or students. Click the link below to download and print the worksheet to get started.

Paragraph: Proofing and Editing

Use this “Printable Writing Worksheet” to help get in the routine of proofing and editing.

EnglishForEveryone.org

Paragraph correction worksheets terms of use, beginning level paragraph correction worksheets.

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to beginning level worksheets.
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 11
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 12
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 13
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 14
• Beginning Paragraph Correction Worksheet 15

Intermediate Level Paragraph Correction Worksheets

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to intermediate level worksheets.
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 11
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 12
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 13
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 14
• Intermediate Paragraph Correction Worksheet 15

Advanced Level Paragraph Correction Worksheets

• Answer Key - This is the answer key to advanced level worksheets.
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 1
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 2
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 3
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 4
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 5
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 6
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 7
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 8
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 9
• Advanced Paragraph Correction Worksheet 10

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Printable Revising Writing Worksheets

Writing Studio

What is revision.

In an effort to make our handouts more accessible, we have begun converting our PDF handouts to web pages. Download this page as a PDF: Revision handout PDF Return to Writing Studio Handouts

Revision is not merely proofreading or editing an essay. Proofreading involves making minor changes, such as putting a comma here, changing a word there, deleting part of a sentence, and so on. Revision, on the other hand, involves making more substantial changes.

Literally, it means re-seeing what you have written in order to re-examine (and possibly change and develop) what you have said or how you have said it. One might revise the argument, organization, style, or tone of one’s paper.

Below you’ll find some helpful activities to help you begin to think through and plan out revisions.

Revision Strategies

Memory draft.

Set aside what you’ve written and rewrite your essay from memory. Compare the draft of your paper to your memory draft. Does your original draft clearly reflect what you want to argue? Do you need to modify the thesis? Should you reorganize parts of your paper?

This technique helps point out what you think you are doing in comparison to what you are actually doing in a piece of writing.

Reverse Outline

Some writers find it helpful to make an outline before writing. A reverse outline, which one makes after writing a draft, can help you determine whether your paper should be reorganized. To make a reverse outline and use it to revise your paper: Read through your paper, making notes in the margins about the main point of each paragraph.

Create your reverse outline by writing those notes down on a separate piece of paper. Use your outline to do three things:

• See whether each paragraph plays a role in supporting your thesis.
• Look for unnecessary repetition of ideas.
• Compare your reverse outline with your draft to see whether the sentences in each paragraph are related to the main point of that paragraph, per the reverse outline. This technique is helpful in reconsidering the organization and coherence of an essay. By figuring out what each paragraph contributes to your paper, you will be able to see where each fits best within it.

Anatomy of a Paragraph

Select different colored highlighters to represent the different elements that should be found in an argumentative essay. Make a key somewhere on the first page, noting what each color represents. You might consider attributing a color to thesis, argumentative topic sentence, evidence, analysis, and fluffy flimflam. Now, color code your essay. When you’re finished, diagnose what you see, paying attention to where you’ve placed your topic sentences, whether you’re using enough evidence, and whether you could expand or streamline your analysis.

This strategy is helpful for visual learners and authors who feel overwhelmed by the length of their draft or scope of their revision project. It also helps to illustrate the organization and development of an argument.

Unpacking an Idea

Select a certain paragraph in your essay and try to explain in more detail how the concepts or ideas fit together. Unpack the evidence for your claims by showing how it supports your topic sentence, main idea, or thesis.

This technique will help you more deliberately explain the steps in your reasoning and point out where any gaps may have occurred within it. It will help you establish how these reasons, in turn, lead to your conclusions.

Exploding a Moment

Select a certain paragraph or section from your essay and write new essays or paragraphs from that section. Through this technique, you might discover new ideas—or new connections between ideas—that you’ll want to emphasize in your paper or in a new paper in the future.

3×5 Note Card

Describe each paragraph of your draft on a separate note card. On one side of the note card, write the topic sentence; on the other, list the evidence you use to back up your topic sentence. Next, evaluate how each paragraph fits into your thesis statement.

This technique will help you look at a draft on the paragraph-level.

Writing Between the Lines

Add information between sentences and paragraphs to clarify concepts and ideas that need further explanation.

This technique helps the writer to be aware of complex concepts and to determine what needs additional explanation.

This technique helps you look at your subject from six different points of view (imagine the 6 sides of a cube and you get the idea).

Take the topic of your paper (or your thesis) and proceed through the following six steps:

• Describe it.
• Compare it.
• Associate it with something else you know.
• Analyze it (meaning break it into parts).
• Apply it to a situation with which you are familiar.
• Argue for or against it.

Write a paragraph, page, or more about each of the six points of view on your subject.

Talk Your Paper

Tell a friend what your paper is about. Pay attention to your explanation. Are all of the ideas you describe actually in the paper? Where did you start in explaining your ideas? Does your paper match your description? Can the listener easily find all of the ideas you mention in your description?

This technique helps match up verbal explanations to written explanations. Which presents your ideas most clearly, accurately, and effectively?

Ask Someone to Read Your Paper Out Loud for You

Ask a friend to read your draft out loud to you. What do you hear? Where does your reader stumble, sound confused, or have questions? Did your reader ever get lost in your text? Did your ideas flow in a logical order and progress from paragraph to paragraph? Did the reader need more information at any point?

This technique helps a writer gain perspective on an essay by hearing first-hand the reaction of a fellow student to it.

Ask Someone without Knowledge of the Course to Read Your Paper

You can tell if your draft works by sharing it with someone unfamiliar with the context. If she can follow your ideas, your professor will be able to as well.

This technique will help you test out the clarity of your paper on those not acquainted with the course material.

Return to the Prompt

This technique may seem obvious, but once you’ve gotten going on an assignment, you may get carried away from what the instructions have asked you to do. Double check the prompt. Have you answered all of the questions (or parts of questions) thoroughly? Is there any part you may have neglected or missed?

This technique will help you keep in mind what the questions are asking and to determine whether you have addressed all of their components effectively.

Last revised: 08/2016 |  Adapted for web delivery: 03/2021

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The Writing Process EAP Worksheets

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Analysing Essay Questions

Eap analysing essay questions worksheet - reading and writing exercises: matching, writing a thesis statement and main ideas - intermediate (b1) - 40 minutes.

Brainstorming and Mind Mapping

Eap brainstorming and mind mapping worksheet - reading and writing exercises: brainstorming, creating a mind map and an essay outline, writing an essay - intermediate (b1) - 90 minutes.

Revising and Editing an Essay

Eap revising and editing an essay worksheet - reading and writing exercises: creating an essay outline, writing notes, editing and revising a paragraph - intermediate (b1-b2) - 90 minutes.

How to Analyse an Essay Question

Eap writing process worksheet - writing exercises: matching, identifying, writing an essay question and essay, peer review and feedback - upper-intermediate (b2) - 90 minutes.

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Engaging in Peer Review

There are times when we write in solitary and intend to keep our words private. However, in many cases, we use writing as a way of communicating. We send messages, present and explain ideas, share information, and make arguments. One way to improve the effectiveness of this written communication is through peer-review.

What is Peer-Review?

In the most general of terms, peer-review is the act of having another writer read what you have written and respond in terms of its effectiveness. This reader attempts to identify the writing's strengths and weaknesses, and then suggests strategies for revising it. The hope is that not only will the specific piece of writing be improved, but that future writing attempts will also be more successful. Peer-review happens with all types of writing, at any stage of the process, and with all levels of writers.

Sometimes peer-review is called a writing workshop.

What is a Writing Workshop?

Peer-review sessions are sometimes called writing workshops. For example, students in a writing class might bring a draft of some writing that they are working on to share with either a single classmate or a group, bringing as many copies of the draft as they will need. There is usually a worksheet to fill out or a set questions for each peer-review reader to answer about the piece of writing. The writer might also request that their readers pay special attention to places where he or she would like specific help. An entire class can get together after reading and responding to discuss the writing as a group, or a single writer and reader can privately discuss the response, or the response can be written and shared in that way only.

Whether peer-review happens in a classroom setting or not, there are some common guidelines to follow.

Common Guidelines for Peer-Review

While peer-review is used in multiple contexts, there are some common guidelines to follow in any peer-review situation.

If You are the Writer

If you are the writer, think of peer-review as a way to test how well your writing is working. Keep an open mind and be prepared for criticism. Even the best writers have room for improvement. Even so, it is still up to you whether or not to take the peer-review reader's advice. If more than one person reads for you, you might receive conflicting responses, but don't panic. Consider each response and decide for yourself if you should make changes and what those changes will be. Not all the advice you get will be good, but learning to make revision choices based on the response is part of becoming a better writer.

If You are the Reader

As a peer-review reader, you will have an opportunity to practice your critical reading skills while at the same time helping the writer improve their writing skills. Specifically, you will want to do as follows:

Read the draft through once

Start by reading the draft through once, beginning to end, to get a general sense of the essay as a whole. Don't write on the draft yet. Use a piece of scratch paper to make notes if needed.

Write a summary

After an initial reading, it is sometimes helpful to write a short summary. A well written essay should be easy to summarize, so if writing a summary is difficult, try to determine why and share that with the writer. Also, if your understanding of the writer's main idea(s) turns out to be different from what the writer intended, that will be a place they can focus their revision efforts.

Focus on large issues

Focus your review on the larger writing issues. For example, the misplacement of a few commas is less important than the reader's ability to understand the main point of the essay. And yet, if you do notice a recurring problem with grammar or spelling, especially to the extent that it interferes with your ability to follow the essay, make sure to mention it.

Be constructive

Be constructive with your criticisms. A comment such as "This paragraph was boring" isn't helpful. Remember, this writer is your peer, so treat him/her with the respect and care that they deserve. Explain your responses. "I liked this part" or "This section doesn't work" isn't enough. Keep in mind that you are trying to help the writer revise, so give him/her enough information to be able to understand your responses. Point to specific places that show what you mean. As much as possible, don't criticize something without also giving the writer some suggestion for a possible solution. Be specific and helpful.

Be positive

Don't focus only on the things that aren't working, but also point out the things that are.

With these common guidelines in mind, here are some specific questions that are useful when doing peer-review.

Questions to Use

When doing peer-review, there are different ways to focus a response. You can use questions that are about the qualities of an essay or the different parts of an essay.

Questions to Ask about the Qualities of an Essay

When doing a peer-review response to a piece of writing, one way to focus it is by answering a set of questions about the qualities of an essay. Such qualities would be:

Organization

• Is there a clearly stated purpose/objective?
• Are there effective transitions?
• Are the introduction and conclusion focused on the main point of the essay?
• As a reader, can you easily follow the writer's flow of ideas?
• Is each paragraph focused on a single idea?
• At any point in the essay, do you feel lost or confused?
• Do any of the ideas/paragraphs seem out of order, too early or too late to be as effective as they could?

Development and Support

• Is each main point/idea made by the writer clearly developed and explained?
• Is the support/evidence for each point/idea persuasive and appropriate?
• Is the connection between the support/evidence, main point/idea, and the overall point of the essay made clear?
• Is all evidence adequately cited?
• Are the topic and tone of the essay appropriate for the audience?
• Are the sentences and word choices varied?

Grammar and Mechanics

• Does the writer use proper grammar, punctuation, and spelling?
• Are there any issues with any of these elements that make the writing unreadable or confusing?

Revision Strategy Suggestions

• What are two or three main revision suggestions that you have for the writer?

Questions to Ask about the Parts of an Essay

When doing a peer-review response to a piece of writing, one way to focus it is by answering a set of questions about the parts of an essay. Such parts would be:

Introduction

• Is there an introduction?
• Is it effective?
• Is it concise?
• Is it interesting?
• Does the introduction give the reader a sense of the essay's objective and entice the reader to read on?
• Does it meet the objective stated in the introduction?
• Does it stay focused on this objective or are there places it strays?
• Is it organized logically?
• Is each idea thoroughly explained and supported with good evidence?
• Are there transitions and are they effective?
• Is there a conclusion?
• Does it work?

Peer-Review Online

Peer-review doesn't happen only in classrooms or in face-to-face situations. A writer can share a text with peer-review readers in the context of a Web classroom. In this context, the writer's text and the reader's response are shared electronically using file-sharing, e-mail attachments, or discussion forums/message boards.

When responding to a document in these ways, the specific method changes because the reader can't write directly on the document like they would if it were a paper copy. It is even more important in this context to make comments and suggestions clear by thoroughly explaining and citing specific examples from the text.

When working with an electronic version of a text, such as an e-mail attachment, the reader can open the document or copy/paste the text in Microsoft Word, or other word-processing software. In this way, the reader can add his or her comments, save and then send the revised document back to the writer, either through e-mail, file sharing, or posting in a discussion forum.

The reader's overall comments can be added either before or after the writer's section of text. If all the comments will be included at the end of the original text, it is still a good idea to make a note in the beginning directing the writer's attention to the end of the document. Specific comments can be inserted into appropriate places in the document, made clear by using all capital letters enclosed with parenthesis. Some word-processing software also has a highlighting feature that might be helpful.

Benefits of Peer Review

Peer-review has a reflexive benefit. Both the writer and the peer-review reader have something to gain. The writer profits from the feedback they get. In the act of reviewing, the peer-review reader further develops his/her own revision skills. Critically reading the work of another writer enables a reader to become more able to identify, diagnose, and solve some of their own writing issues.

Peer Review Worksheets

Here are a few worksheets that you can print out and use for a peer-review session.

Parts of an Essay

• My audience is:
• My purpose is:
• The main point I want to make in this text is:
• One or two things that I would appreciate your comments on are:
• After reading through the draft one time, write a summary of the text. Do you agree with the writer's assessment of the text's main idea?
• In the following sections, answer the questions that would be most helpful to the writer or that seem to address the most relevant revision concerns. Refer to specific places in their text, citing examples of what you mean. Use a separate piece of paper for your responses and comments. Also, write comments directly on the writer's draft where needed.
• Is it effective? Concise? Interesting?
• Is there a conclusion? Does it work?

Finally, what are two or three revision suggestions you have for the writer?

Qualities of an Essay

• After reading through the draft one time, write a summary of the text.
• In the following sections, answer the questions that would be most helpful to the writer or that seem to address the most relevant revision concerns. Use a separate piece of paper for your responses and comments. Also, write comments directly on the writer's draft where needed.
• Is the connection between the support/evidence, main point/idea, and the overall point of the essay made clear?Is all evidence adequately cited?

Salahub, Jill . (2007). Peer Review. Writing@CSU . Colorado State University. https://writing.colostate.edu/guides/guide.cfm?guideid=43

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Steps for Revising Your Paper

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When you have plenty of time to revise, use the time to work on your paper and to take breaks from writing. If you can forget about your draft for a day or two, you may return to it with a fresh outlook. During the revising process, put your writing aside at least twice—once during the first part of the process, when you are reorganizing your work, and once during the second part, when you are polishing and paying attention to details.

Use the following questions to evaluate your drafts. You can use your responses to revise your papers by reorganizing them to make your best points stand out, by adding needed information, by eliminating irrelevant information, and by clarifying sections or sentences.

Find your main point.

What are you trying to say in the paper? In other words, try to summarize your thesis, or main point, and the evidence you are using to support that point. Try to imagine that this paper belongs to someone else. Does the paper have a clear thesis? Do you know what the paper is going to be about?

Identify your readers and your purpose.

What are you trying to do in the paper? In other words, are you trying to argue with the reading, to analyze the reading, to evaluate the reading, to apply the reading to another situation, or to accomplish another goal?

Evaluate your evidence.

Does the body of your paper support your thesis? Do you offer enough evidence to support your claim? If you are using quotations from the text as evidence, did you cite them properly?

Save only the good pieces.

Do all of the ideas relate back to the thesis? Is there anything that doesn't seem to fit? If so, you either need to change your thesis to reflect the idea or cut the idea.

Tighten and clean up your language.

Do all of the ideas in the paper make sense? Are there unclear or confusing ideas or sentences? Read your paper out loud and listen for awkward pauses and unclear ideas. Cut out extra words, vagueness, and misused words.

Visit the Purdue OWL's vidcast on cutting during the revision phase for more help with this task.

Eliminate mistakes in grammar and usage.

Do you see any problems with grammar, punctuation, or spelling? If you think something is wrong, you should make a note of it, even if you don't know how to fix it. You can always talk to a Writing Lab tutor about how to correct errors.

Switch from writer-centered to reader-centered.

Try to detach yourself from what you've written; pretend that you are reviewing someone else's work. What would you say is the most successful part of your paper? Why? How could this part be made even better? What would you say is the least successful part of your paper? Why? How could this part be improved?