LESSON FIVE: Dazzling Dialogue

                             

LESSON DESCRIPTION

Students learn to correctly capitalize the first word of direct quotations and to use quotation marks in dialogue. Students practice using a spell-checker or dictionary, and work on their city promotion continues as they write and punctuate lines of dialogue for the script of their commercials.

 

GRADE-LEVEL EXPECTATIONS

W2B  Use conventions of capitalization in written text

W2C  In composing text, use

W2E       In writing, use correct spelling of grade-level frequently-used words; classroom resources and dictionary to verify correct spelling.

 

LESSON MATERIALS

§         Sources of literature

o        None

 

§         Supplies 

o        Newspapers for each student (comic strips)

o        Magic markers/paper

o        Dictionaries

o        Chalkboard drawings with speech bubbles

o        Stick figures on the chalkboard; add blank cartoon speech bubbles (at least three)

 

§         Handouts provided

o        Model Description: Examples of Dialogue

o        Model Description: checklist

o        My city description checklist for use with student-based assignment

 

§         Words to know

o           conventions

 

 

FORMATIVE ASSESSMENT 

The assessment for this lesson will be a draft of the students’ script for their city

 

LEARNING ACTIVITIES

 

Questions

for

Students

When you read comics, how do you know when the speaker changes?

In everyday conversations, each of us knows when the speaker changes because some one else speaks. As you read fiction, nonfiction, and poetry, how does the author signify a change in speakers?

 

 

 

 

1.        Display samples of comic book strips and explain how the blurbs function as quotation marks and how they show change of speakers. Look for onomatopoeia and alliteration to reinforce previous lesson when selecting comic strips. Simply mention the examples in passing.

 

Idea

 

Use your grammar text as a reference for rules of capitalization and quotation marks. Alternatively, you may create an overhead transparency, provide a printed handout for students, or put up the rules and examples on a smartboard.  Turn to any page containing dialogue in a student anthology. Students will find, within that page, two examples that distinguish it as a correct example of dialogue.

 

Question

for

Students

What makes this dialogue correctly punctuated and capitalized?

Be sure students realize the change of speakers is indicated by a change of paragraph, just as though each speaker’s words were enclosed in a cartoon bubble.

 

 

 

 

2.        Students cut out comic strips from the newspaper, white out the dialogue for his/her strip, then share with the class. Students trade cartoons and write new dialogue for each cartoon. You may photocopy original cartoons and compare the original dialogues to the student-generated ones.

 

3.        Draw stick figures on the board and draw bubbles above each. In pairs or groups, each student is given chalk or a marker. Groups write dialogue in the cartoon bubbles above the figures drawn on the chalkboard. Every figure should be given a name. When the cartoons are finished, another team of students come to the chalkboard and writes the dialogue from the cartoon bubbles in sentence and paragraph form.  Students should remember to add tags identifying the speakers. Continue to write in the bubbles and transfer the dialogue into sentence and paragraph form until all students are comfortable with the idea that quotation marks enclose dialogue, just as cartoon bubbles do. Each participant must write at least two times using correct capitalization and punctuation.