Somewhere over the Rainbow- Isreal Kamakawiwo'ole

Crazy Little Thing Called Love - Queen

On the Top of the World- Imagine Dragons

Ain't no Mountain High Enough- Marvin Gaye

Rough face girl

Speech marks

How to ask questions

Dialogue Rules

Dialogue in a story helps the characters come alive. Hearing the words from the characters through dialogue is a way to keep readers interested and more involved in a story's plot. The punctuation rules for writing dialogue are learned by children so they can add the voice of the characters they create into their stories.

General Rules

Dialogue, or the spoken word of characters, is enclosed in quotation marks. The stranger said, "Hello, my name is the Big Bad Wolf." A quotation mark appears before the first word spoken and after the last spoken word. If the dialogue is at the end of a sentence, the quotation marks go after the punctuation mark at the end of the sentence. If the dialogue is followed by a tag explaining who said the words (e.g., she said, he remarked, Dad shouted) place a comma after the last word of the dialogue and before the quotation marks. "I'm happy to meet you," said the girl. Always capitalize the first word of dialogue.

Dialogue with a Pause

Dialogue is also written with a tag explaining who is saying the words between the spoken words. "I'm just going through the woods, "she explained,"to visit my grandmother."

New Speaker, New Paragraph

Each time a new speaker begins speaking, a new paragraph begins. Each new paragraph is indented. Look in a fiction book and notice how many new paragraphs are on a page because of the dialogue and speakers changing.    Include quotation marks around all of the spoken words, but not the tag designating the speaker. A comma is enclosed in the first set of words. A comma also pauses the reader after the speaker is noted. Another set of quotation marks around the last part of the words with ending punctuation within the quotation marks will finish the dialogue.

Spice it Up

The word "said" when tagging the speaker becomes stale if overused. Use synonyms for said when identifying the speaker. Use words such as: whispered,mumbled,stammered,screamed,shouted,cried,demanded,pleaded,requested.

  Use words in dialogue that the speaker might say. A teenager uses different words than a teacher. Choose words in the dialogue fitting to the character to make the character more real for the reader.

Homophones

Homophones Powerpoint from Brian Duermeyer

How to write an introduction

Writing a Personal Narrative

Because of Winn-Dixie

What is a narrative?

Subject and Predicate

Choose a subject from the box to complete each sentence.

A big spider   A buzzing bee    My notebook  A gray dolphin    My mother    My closet
The houseplant    The eye doctor    The space alien

 1. ________________________________ looked for nectar in the flower.
 2. ________________________________ has lots of clothes in it.
 3. ________________________________ checked my vision.
 4. ________________________________ needs soil, water, and sunlight.
 5. ________________________________ landed the UFO.
 6. ________________________________ jumped in the sea.
 7. ________________________________ was upset because I broke her favorite vase.
 8. ________________________________ is filled with stories that I wrote.
 9. ________________________________ spun a web in the doorway

                   Choose a predicate from the box to complete each sentence.

watered her flowers.         barked all night long.            drove me to school.          
 blew in the wind.   ate crickets.    cut the boy's hair.    fixed the sink.     slept in her crib.              flew the airplane.

1. The gardener ____________________________________________.
2. The pilot ____________________________________________.
3. The little puppy ____________________________________________.
4. The barber ____________________________________________.
5. James' baby sister ____________________________________________.
6. The flag ____________________________________________.
7. The lizard ____________________________________________.
8. The plumber ____________________________________________.
9. The bus driver ____________________________________________.

Subject Predicate