Writing Dialogue

Katie Stipp
Grade 4/Writing
Common Core Standards:
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.3
Writenarrativestodeveloprealorimaginedexperiencesoreventsusingeffectivetechnique,
descriptivedetails,andcleareventsequences.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.3.B
Usedialogueanddescriptiontodevelopexperiencesandeventsorshowtheresponsesof
characterstosituations.
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.4
Produceclearandcoherentwritinginwhichthedevelopmentandorganizationareappropriateto
task,purpose,andaudience.(Gradespecificexpectationsforwritingtypesaredefinedin
standards13above.)
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.5
Withguidanceandsupportfrompeersandadults,developandstrengthenwritingasneededby
planning,revising,andediting.(Editingforconventionsshoulddemonstratecommandof
Languagestandards13uptoandincludinggrade4here.)
CCSS.ELALITERACY.W.4.6
Withsomeguidanceandsupportfromadults,usetechnology,includingtheInternet,toproduce
andpublishwritingaswellastointeractandcollaboratewithothers;demonstratesufficient
commandofkeyboardingskillstotypeaminimumofonepageinasinglesitting.
LessonSummary:
Thepurposeofthislessonisforstudentstoshowskillinwritingincludinguseoftransitional
words,sensorywords,andtheuseofdialogueinanarrative.Studentswillalsofocuson
sequencingeventsincludingaconclusion.Toaccomplishthisstudentswillbeusing
storybird.com.Toassiststudentsinbuildingtheirstoriesaposteroftransitionalwordsand
phraseswillbeposted.Inaddition,studentswillbeencouragedtousethewordwalltoenhance
vocabularyintheirstories.
Estimated Duration:
Four 40 min. class sessions.
Commentary:
I will begin by reviewing the term dialogue and what it looks like on the printed page. I will note
the punctuation and placement of commas and quotation marks. We will also review how to
write a complete sentence. To hook the students I will display three examples of sentences that
illustrate dialogue. Students will guess what the story is about from which these sentences came.
After their predictions I will read the story. We will revisit their predictions to see if any were

close. The students will then create their own examples of dialogue in groups of two or three.
They will write these, check within the groups for proper punctuation, and volunteers will share
them with the class.
Instructional Procedures:
Day 1: As students arrive they will see examples of dialogue written on the Smartboard. The
teacher will ask the students to think, pair, share. Think: what kind of sentence is on the board?
What do you notice about the punctuation? Pair: with their shoulder partner students will discuss
what they think about the sentence. Share: finally, students will share with the class what their
observations are. Next, repeat the process with the question, What do you think a story with this
dialogue in it might be about? After recording the predictions on the board, I will read the story.
Once finished the class will decide whether the predictions were close or correct. The class will
also discuss how dialogue enhances a story and helps move the plot forward.
Day 2: To refresh the students memories (for about ten minutes) we will quickly review one of
the sentences from yesterday reviewing punctuation and the placement of quotation marks.
Students will log onto storybird.com. They must choose from one category for example birds or
super heroes. Once they choose the topic they will be directed to choose seven of the
illustrations. These will be the illustrations for which they write dialogue in their narrative. I will
then assist the students in narrowing down categories in order to choose photos for their
narrative. In addition, I will ask guiding questions to help the children envision a story line.
Day 3: Students will log back on to their account on storybird.com. They will then brainstorm
ideas for a narrative based on a series of pictures they chose the previous day. Students will work
on a rough draft of their story for about thirty minutes. I will check their drafts and suggest
words to look up and/or words that might have a better synonym to use (e.g. Screamed instead of
said or received instead of got). In addition, I will check that dialogue is included in at least three
pages.
Day 4: Students will finish any editting or revisions and then type their stories into
storybird.com. After the teacher has checked the work the student will print the story and as
students finish they will be allowed to share their story with a peer that is also finished. Students
will rotate and share with other students as well. Upon completion I will use examples from
student stories to solidify the concept of dialogue and the proper use of punctuation in dialogue.
Pre-Assessment:
The initial activity where students did a think, pair, share regarding dialogue will show if the
students understand the concept or not. The book will be a end of unit activity so the students
will have practiced writing sentences including dialogue. In addition, they will have heard and
seen many examples by read-alouds done by the teacher as well as from their independent
reading.

Scoring Guidelines:
Formative assessments will include daily oral grammar in which students correct or add
punctuation to dialogue. Before creating the book they will have taken a short quiz in which they
independently punctuate dialogue. Teacher will use students use of dialogue and punctuation in
his or her rough draft to assess understanding.
Post-Assessment:
The post-assessment is the publication of the students narrative. To have accomplished this the
students will have had to engage in the writing process, successfully edited his or her narrative,
and given examples of correctly punctuated dialogue.
Scoring Guidelines:
Students who have fewer than the three required examples or who have made mistakes that
indicate the skill has not been mastered will meet with the teacher for a writers conference and
given the opportunity to correct their narrative. Follow up mini lessons to reenforce the weak
areas will be given until students show an understanding by correctly writing and punctuating
three examples of dialogue in sentences.
Differentiated Instructional Support
Describe how instruction can be differentiated (changed or altered) to meet the needs of gifted or
accelerated students:

Students who show mastery of reading and writing dialogue will be encouraged to add
more photos and dialogue to their narratives. They will also be encouraged to add more
sentence variety such as compound and complex sentences.

Discuss additional activities you could do to meet the needs of students who might be struggling
with the material:

For the students who are having difficulty examples will be posted in the room and
referred to often. Daily oral language will be done with small groups focusing on particular
aspects in which they are having difficulty. Students will be given opportunities to write on a
daily basis to focus on practice and improvement. Writing conferences will be held between the
student and teacher with every project.

Extension
http://www.funbrain.com/FBSearch.php?Grade=4

Is a website that has the content areas math, reading, writing, and science in grade levels 1-5.
Students can choose from many topics for example spelling or word usage. This can benefit
students by playing games that pin point the area in need of instruction or as enrichment.
Homework Options and Home Connections
I would encourage parents to read with their children and point out examples of punctation and
dialogue. Parents can support reading and writing by discussing story elements and even just
talking with their child each day and encouraging them to use varied vocabulary and to elaborate
on their ideas. There are many opportunities for children to write at home including but not
limited to journals, diaries, friendly letters, and thank you notes.
Interdisciplinary Connections
Social studies is one content area that could be connected to our writing project. Instead of
choosing pictures from the website students could interview older relatives or neighbors to create
the dialogue and use photographs of them.
Students could create their story and instead of importing pictures they could produce their own
original artwork in order to illustrate their narrative. This incorporates the content area of art.
Materials and Resources:
For Teachers: A Smartboard or other projections device to explain examples, daily oral
language, and student examples and books to read to the class for examples.
For Students: A computer to access the website in order to publish their book, paper and
pencil for rough drafts, and dictionaries.
Key Vocabulary
Dialogue, punctuation, narrative, website, quotation marks, and illustrations

Additional Notes
I am having the children do their rough draft on pencil and paper rather than on the computer to
help them develop skills in proof reading and using a dictionary. If it was an older group of
children I would have them do it on the computer.