Let's Have a Conversation! A Guide to Writing and Punctuating Dialogue

Are quotation marks, commas, and dialogue tags leaving your child confused?

Does your child know what a character wants to say, but isn't quite sure where all that punctuation is supposed to go?

LEARN to write and punctuate dialogue through a fable!

WHAT YOU GET

This 25-page fable-based mini-unit uses my retelling of the classic fable “The Lion and the Mouse” to teach your child how dialogue works in a real story.

This resource is valued at $27, but it's yours for $7!

Instead of memorizing a list of punctuation rules, students begin by reading the fable and examining the conversation between the Lion and the Mouse. They'll look at who is speaking, what the characters are saying, and how dialogue helps us understand the characters and visualize the story.

Then we break it down step by step.

Your child will learn how to use quotation marks, punctuate dialogue tags, use commas correctly, punctuate questions and exclamations, and place a dialogue tag before or after the spoken words. They'll also learn one of those little rules that can make a BIG difference when writing a conversation:

New speaker = new paragraph

But I don't want students to simply learn where to put the punctuation.

I want them to use it in their writing.

Students practice turning telling into talking, explore how dialogue can reveal a character's personality and emotions, and even see how the Lion's words change as his character changes throughout the story.

For students who are ready for a little more, I've also included an Advanced Dialogue lesson that teaches how a dialogue tag can interrupt a character's spoken sentence.

Finally, your child gets to put everything together by creating a conversation between the Lion and the Mouse and then writing their own fable using dialogue. They'll even create their own moral.

An answer key is included, too, so you don't have to figure out all those commas and quotation marks yourself!

HOW IT WORKS

Add Let's Have a Conversation! A Guide to Writing and Punctuating Dialogue to your cart.

Once you purchase, you'll receive the complete digital resource to use with your student.

Read "The Lion and the Mouse" together, work through the dialogue lessons and activities, and then let your child put those new skills to work in their own writing.

No boring punctuation drills. No page after page of disconnected sentences.

Just a good story, plenty of conversation, and a chance for your child to learn how punctuation works in the context of real writing.