Rahal 1
TCNJ Lesson Plan
Writing-- Characters Talking
Student Name: Lana Rahal
Grade Level: 2nd Grade
School Name: Peter Muschal Elementary School
Host Teacher’s Name: Mrs. Vandegrift
Guiding Questions:
How and why do authors include dialogue in their stories?
Why would an author choose to include dialogue rather than narrate the conversation?
( ie What are the benefits of including dialogue in a story?)
When should writers include narration and when should they use speech?
Which parts of a text are read with intonation and which are not?
How can we make stories come to life with our voices, or the words we choose to write?
Pre-lesson Assignments and/or Student Prior Knowledge (ex. background knowledge,
possible misconceptions, prior lesson content)
Students have experience working with quotation marks and including dialogue in their stories.
Some students may still be misusing the placement of quotation marks, including them around
words such as "he said" rather than leaving this part out of the quotations. Additionally, some
students have been using but abusing dialogue in their stories. A handful of students (ie KH)
have included pages of dialogue, but do not include narration to break up this text. This lesson
targets this specific problem- students will work on selectively choosing when to include
dialogue, and when to include narration, after studying how an author does this.
Standards:
3.2.2.a.3: Generate ideas for writing: hearing stories, recalling experiences, brainstorming, and
drawing.
3.2.2.a.5: maintain the use of basic writing process to develop writing.
3.2.2.a.9: re-read drafts for meaning, to add details and to improve correctness
3.2.2.d.1: participate in a dramatization or role play.
3.2.2.b.3: produce a narrative with a beginning, middle, and end.
Learning Objectives and Assessments:
Learning Objectives
Students will be able to properly use quotation
marks.
Assessment
Within their stories, students will include
quotation marks when characters are talking,
leaving explanations such as "he said" outside
of the quotation marks.
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Students will be able to identify which parts of
a text are spoken and which are narration.
Using a passage from a familiar story,
students will be able to read aloud spoken parts
with inflection while reading narrative parts
with a steady, even voice.
Students will be able to write dialogue into their Within their stories, students will include a third
stories including narrative parts.
person, narrative voice within dialogic sections
by incorporating said/other words or actions to
accompany the characters words.
Materials: (List all, include any online or book references)
Magnetic Quotation Marks
Writing Notebooks with "Other Ways to Say Said" page/ matching anchor chart hanging in room
Whiteboard
Prepared written section from Chrysanthemum (or other passage of choice)
Popsicle Sticks
Cut Out Speech Bubbles
Writing Folders
Writing Paper
Plan for distribution/cleanup of materials:
Magnetic quotation marks will be on the whiteboard for use by the teacher (prepared in advance)
and may be corrected by selected student volunteers. The selected passage from Chrysanthemum
will already be written on the whiteboard by the time the students gather on the carpet. The
passage should be from a familiar text, so students can focus on the use of dialogue without
stumbling over new, unfamiliar words or meanings/plots. During the active engagement
segment, students will be assigned roles, and will have speech bubbles glued onto popsicle sticks
for use if their character speaks, to use as a visual aid. These will be in the front of the room, for
the performing students to choose if they need them or not. These speech bubbles will be glue
onto the popsicle sticks in advance. Students have their "Other Ways to Say 'Said' "in their
writer's notebooks available to turn back to as a reference while writing, and the matching anchor
chart hangs in the Writer's Workshop bulletin board area. Students are working in either their
writing folders or their notebooks, and if they are working in their folders, additional paper of
their choosing is located on the windowsill to take as needed.
Lesson Beginning:
As students complete their spelling tests, they will be called to the carpet to sit in their reading
spots. The teacher will begin the lesson with 3 speaking sentences written on the whiteboard,
with quotation marks missing and/or placed in incorrect spots. The teacher will ask for student
volunteers to correct the mistakes and discuss why the corrections are necessary.
Step by Step plan (numbered):
1. Lesson beginning
2. The teacher will review, "Yesterday, we worked on looking at third person writing and
first person writing. This writing style helps us to think about the voice in the story.
Today, we are going to keep working on this idea by looking at when characters talk in
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stories. When characters speak, it is called dialogue. But, when authors include dialogue,
they also include some narration. Let's look at an example".
3. The teacher will reveal the whiteboard with the written passage from Chrysanthemum
and will explain, "This writing comes from Chrysanthemum, which we all read together.
We are going to look at this one part of the story, and look at how the author wrote it, to
help us with our own writing."
4. The teacher will call on a volunteer to read the passage aloud, using expression in his or
her voice, while other students follow along.
5. The teacher will say, " In Kevin Henkes's writing, he did not just have the characters talk
back and forth. He included some narration, or parts that were not said out loud, to help
describe what was going on. This was a choice he made as an author".
6. The teacher will then say, "In your stories, I have noticed a lot of you are using dialogue,
which is wonderful! Today, we will be practicing what Kevin Henkes did- making sure
that we include narration with our dialogue.
7. Next the teacher will say, "We are going to practice reading this section of the story out
loud, paying attention to which parts are talking parts, and which are narration". The
teacher will call on volunteers to play each character, plus the narrator.
8. When all student volunteers are standing at the front of the carpet, the teacher will
explain, "These students are going to read their parts out loud from the passage. The
narrator will read narration, and Chrysanthemum will read only the parts that
Chrysanthemum says." (to the volunteers) "If you are reading something that a character
says out loud, you can pick up a talk-bubble stick, to show us that you are talking". (To
the rest of the class) "In the audience, you are going to use your fingers to show quotation
marks when you think a character is speaking out loud".
9. The students will read aloud the passage while the teacher monitors both the use of the
talk bubble sticks and students' quotation mark motions with their fingers.
10. When finished, the teacher will ask the speakers, "How did you know that your character
was speaking, and that you needed the talk bubble stick?" (answer: when I read, there
were quotation marks around that part)
11. The teacher will ask students to be seated, and the class may give them a round of
applause for presenting in front of the class.
12. The teacher will say, "Now, when you are writing, make sure you have three things:
dialogue, quotation marks in the right spot, and narration to go with your dialogue. In
your writing notebooks, you have your "Other Ways to Say 'Said'" paper to help you with
adding part of your narration. Narration is not just putting "he said" after everything. You
can add parts such as "he rolled his eyes" or other actions to show how the character is
feeling or what they are doing while they are speaking".
13. The teacher will call students back to their seats to begin writing independently.
14. The teacher will circulate while students are writing, and will conference one on one with
students.
15. Closure
Closure:
Short closure: At 10:45, the teacher will call "Hands on top" to indicate that students must stop
writing, and will ask for student volunteers to read aloud a dialogic scene from their writing,
reading with expression. Take 2-4 student volunteers.
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Long Closure: At 10:40, complete the above closure, then, if possible during the lesson, make a
copy of a student's dialogue passage, and use this to recreate the active engagement activity,
calling student volunteers to play the roles of the speaking characters/narrator, using the speech
bubble sticks again.
Key Questions (that you will ask):
Where should the quotation marks go in this sentence?
Why are certain words left outside of the quotation marks?
Which part of this writing is dialogue and which is narration?
Why would the author include dialogue rather than narrating this part, too?
Why would the author include narration after some dialogue?
What words in the writing help us know how to read it with our voices?
(During active engagement) Which student is the narrator? How do you know this?
When should dialogue be used in a story? When should narration be used?
Logistics:
Timing: 45 minutes total
Lesson Beginning (punctuation review)- 5 minutes
Discussion of Narration vs. Dialogue- 5 minutes
Student read aloud of passage (active engagement)- 5 minutes
Independent writing/ conferences- 25 minutes
Closure: 5 minutes
Transitions: Students will be called to the carpet from their desks by table groups.
Students are already aware of where their writing spots are on the carpet and will sit in
these spots on the carpet. Student volunteers to read aloud in the front of the room will
stand when their name is called and will return to their spots when finished. The teacher
will call students back to their seats based on who is sitting quietly. Students may take
out either their notebooks or folders, depending on where they have been writing their
story, and may get additional paper as needed from near the windowsill (the teacher will
announce to students that it is located there).
Classroom Management: The teacher will call "Hands on Top" to gain students'
attention. Students have been designated writing spots to separate talkative students from
each other preemptively. Students who are misbehaving or not paying attention on the
carpet may be moved to the floor near the teacher's chair, or may be removed from the
carpet to their seats and will be asked to take out a chip from their bucket. While students
are in the front of the room performing and reading aloud, other students will actively be
engaged by showing quotation marks with their fingers, so students remain focused on
the task. Students may form a line near Mrs. Vandegrift's desk to have their stories
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looked at, but do not permit more than 2 students to be standing by the desk (one
conferencing, one waiting) to ensure students are working the majority of the time, rather
than losing time by waiting around.
Differentiation
During the active engagement portion of the lesson, the teacher will have individual copies of the
passage to ensure that student volunteers are able to see and read their roles aloud. These
individual copies will not be typed in paragraph style (the way it will be written on the anchor
chart), but instead will have separation between sentences to assist students who are presenting
who have difficulty reading large chunks of text. The teacher may call on student volunteers such
as MB, MF, or AB to boost these students' confidence by sharing in front of the class, and/or to
practice their fluency skills. During independent writing time, the teacher will have independent
conferences with students to mark their progress (includes compliment, teaching point, and
expectations/ what to work on, to be checked next conference time).