Peer Editing Checklist for Formal Essay

(TESOL Worksheets--Writing, English for Academic Purposes)

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[I was recently teaching an English for Academic Purposes class in which students had to peer-edit each other's essays, and so I repurposed my IELTS Writing Task 2 Peer-Edit Check List and turned it into a Peer-Edit Checklist for essays in general.  It is mostly the same checklist, but I've made some small changes to make it less focused on IELTS, and more focused on general essay structure.

For an older version of this same idea, see my Peer-Edit Guide from 2014.]

Writing Portfolio Peer Editing Checklist

Paragraphing:

Your partner’s essay should consist of an introduction, a conclusion, and either 2 or 3 body paragraphs, for a total of either 4 or 5 paragraphs.

	Yes	Need to fix
Is your partner’s essay divided into clear paragraphs (with line breaks in between the paragraphs)?
Does your partner have an introduction?
Does your partner have a conclusion?
Does your partner have between two or three body paragraphs?

Introduction Paragraph Structure:

Your partner’s introduction should start with a general statement about the topic.  Then the next couple sentences should transition from the general to focus on the specific idea of the essay.  (The exact number of transition sentences is flexible.  In most essays, it will be somewhere between 1 and 2).  The final sentence of the introduction should include the main idea of the essay, and also the main points from the boyd paragraphs.

	Yes	Need to fix
Is the first sentence a general statement about the topic?
Following the general statement, does your partner transition to the specific idea of the essay?
Does the final sentence of your partner’s introduction contain a thesis statement containing the main idea of their essay?
Does the thesis statement also contain the main points from the body paragraphs?

Body Paragraph Structure:

Each body paragraph should start with a clear topic sentence, which gives the main idea of the paragraph.  Every other sentence in the paragraph should support the topic sentence.  Any sentences in your paragraph that are not on the same subject as your topic sentence should either be deleted, or moved to a separate paragraph.

Typically an formal paragraph will follow this structure:

Topic sentence

1st supporting idea

Example of 1st supporting idea

2nd supporting idea

Example of 2nd supporting idea

Concluding Sentence

First Body Paragraph	Yes	Need to fix
Does the first body paragraph start with a clear topic sentence, which give the main idea of the paragraph?
Does every other sentence in the paragraph relate to the main idea in the topic sentence?
Is the topic sentence supported by supporting ideas and examples?
Does the first body paragraph end with a concluding sentence?

Second Body Paragraph	Yes	Need to fix
Does the second body paragraph start with a clear topic sentence, which give the main idea of the paragraph?
Does every other sentence in the paragraph relate to the main idea in the topic sentence?
Is the topic sentence supported by supporting ideas and examples?
Does the second body paragraph end with a concluding sentence?

Conclusion: 

		Yes	Need to fix
Does the conclusion contain a sentence summarizing the main points from the body paragraphs?
Does the conclusion contain a sentence stating your partner’s opinion about the topic and explaining why?
Does the conclusion contain a sentence talking about the future?

Grammar:

Go through and check your partner’s essay for grammar mistakes. Underline any grammar mistakes you see. You will talk to your partner later about these mistakes.

Readability:

Do you understand your partner’s essay? Underline any sections or sentences that you have trouble understanding. You will talk to your partner later about these sections.

Your name_________________________________________

Your partner’s name_________________________________________