Newsletter Peer Review

Swap your newsletter with another student in the class and write up a peer review based on the guidelines listed in the table below. Rather than marking the original, we suggest that you give them a black and white photocopy on which to make comments.

The purpose of the peer review is twofold: First, the suggestions you give to your peers should help them revise their newsletter. Second, carefully reading others' work should help you better re-evaluate your own writing. The most important thing to remember when commenting on a peer's work is to be specific. You will (1) comment on the specific points in your peer's newsletter and then (2) you will provide a brief written response to these points.

Your work for the peer review is going to be useful to your peer review partner to enable them to improve their newsletter, so be as specific as possible in your comments. If a problem or point is obvious to you, make sure that you note it; it is more than possible that the writer hasn't seen the issue in the same way that you have. Also, as the peer review can count as part of your portfolio, please take the process of writing it fairly seriously.

Peer review guidelines are as follows:

1. Write the kind of comments for your classmates that you would want to receive. Specific comments will help a writer far more than general remarks. Even when making global suggestions, refer to particular passages/elements of the newsletter.
2. Ask questions of the writer. Try offering your suggestions in the form of questions. You may frame questions such as "Would this be clearer if the headline was rephrased?" or "Would your organization be tighter if you combined paragraphs two and five, since they express similar ideas?" This way, you can give your peer a number of things to consider without sounding bossy.
3. Don't concentrate on mechanical or grammatical errors. Your main job is not to proofread (of course, you may want to mark any distracting mechanical errors), but to help the writer make global improvements to the newsletter.
4. Briefly discuss with your partner, their intended purpose and audience for their newsletter. Comment on how they have achieved that purpose. On the other hand, don't be afraid to point out "holes" in what they have done. The main point is to comment tactfully and constructively.
5. Be a sceptical reader. This approach will help your peer make their newsletter more convincing. Feel free to point out good things about your peer’s newsletter. However, you will not help your partner if you say everything is great. Remember EVERYONE’s newsletter will need some revision. Make as many comments as you can and be very honest without being negative (that's my job!). Remember, you need to offer constructive criticism.

Suggested Newsletter Evaluation Criteria – Use this template as a guide. You can add other criteria if you like.

ELEMENTS	CRITERIA	SPECIFIC COMMENTS
Content	• Originality and creativity • Variety • Relevant to purpose and needs of organization/audience • Required length - not too much 'fill'Good mix of 'news' and interest stories • Visuals/pictures well chosen and support text
Layout & Design	• Layout consistent & easy to read • Appropriate choice of fonts & colour • Appropriate choice and variety of graphics and visuals • Design choices reflect organisational purpose • Design choices are appropriate for needs of audience
Writing Style	• Clear, well written sentences • Appropriate use of active voice, minimal nominalisation • Use of parallel structures • Appropriate language for audience • Sentences are well written - vary in length, no sentence fragments, easy to read. Check out the links on this site for some good examples of problems with writing sentences, punctuation etc.
Audience Appeal	• Purpose clear – entertain, inform, persuade? • Likely to meet audience needs as per proposal? • Likely to appeal to audience
Editing	• Spelling, punctuation, grammar. This is a big subject but there are numerous web sites which might help you. Try this one. • Consistency/appropriateness of headings/style • Transitions clear, sentences, paragraphs used appropriately