Student's Guidelines for Peer Review:

1. Read your classmate's writing carefully several times.
2. Focus your attention on the meaning of your classmate's text.
3. Because it is difficult for writers to separate information they wish to express from the actual words on their page, you can help your classmate discover differences between his or her intended meaning and what he or she has actually written.
4. Avoid getting stuck on minor spelling mistakes or grammar errors unless they prevent you from understanding your classmate's ideas.
5. Keep in mind that peer response is used by writers of all ages and types, including student and professional writers who want to know if their writing is clear to others.
6. In responding to writing, try to be considerate of your classmate's feelings, and remember that it is very difficult for most writers to write clearly.
7. Realize that you have the opportunity to tell your classmate what you do not understand about his or her writing, to ask questions about it, and to point out what you like about it. This is important information to the writer.
8. When a peer responds to your writing, remember that you, as the writer, have the ultimate responsibility for making final changes.
9. The peer response activity provides several sources of ideas for how to improve your writing, including your classmate's comments about your writing; your classmate's texts, from which you may learn new words, expressions, and ways of organizing writing, as well as discover errors you may have made in your own text; and discussions of issues you may not have thought about before.
10. If you have any questions or do not know how to respond to your class mate's writing, be sure to ask your teacher for help. (Berg, 1999)