On Thursday, students completed another listening activity. They were read most of The Dinner Party by Mona Gardner. They had to project three different ways the story could end. Then they chose one ending and explained how this ending connected to events in the story.
Finished for homework if not done.
Students were given a handout illustrating the rules for writing dialogue:
1) Put quotation marks around the speaker's exact words.
Correct: “I went to the store yesterday,” said John.
Incorrect: “I went to the store yesterday, said John.”
2) Capitalize the first word the speaker says.
3) The comma, question mark, period, and exclamation point go inside the quotation marks.
4) Speaker tags identify which character is speaking: ‘said John’, ‘shouted George’, ‘she answered’.
a) Speaker tags can be in the middle of a sentence ( “I doubt,” said Pete, “that I’ll be there.”), or at the end.
b) When a speaker tag interrupts a sentence, a comma goes inside the quotation marks before the tag and after the tag. (See the example in ‘a’.)
c) Speaker tags usually don’t occur at the beginning of a sentence.
5) When the dialogue is first and the speaker tag is last, the dialogue is followed by a comma, a question mark, or an exclamation point - not a period. The period goes after the speaker tag.
Correct: “I went to the store yesterday,” said John.
Incorrect: “I went to the store yesterday.” said John.
6) If the same speaker continues speaking after a complete sentence, another speaker tag is not necessary.
7) When the dialogue is last in the sentence, it is followed by a period (inside the quotation marks..
8) A new paragraph is started when changing speakers.
Example:
“Where are you going?” asked John.
“I’m going to the park,” answered Mary. “I promised to meet Sue there at three o’clock. Would you like to come along?”
“Sure!” exclaimed John.
“Then let’s go!” said Mary.
9) Use adverbs and phrases in the speaker tag to make the dialogue more descriptive, and to tell the reader the mood of the characters. Examples: ‘George ordered in a stern voice’, ‘he asked anxiously’ , ‘they shouted excitedly’
OTHER WAYS TO SAY ‘SAID’
Cried, uttered, whispered, answered, repeated, asked, remarked, shouted, stated, declared, called, protested, roared, replied, announced, exclaimed
Friday:
The end of The Dinner Party was read to the class. We discussed how the end was projected earlier in the story.
Folders for portfolios were passed out. Three majory assignments were handed back: Letter to Mr. Lambert from the first week of school, all three books from the benchmark exam, and two other graded writing assignments. Table of contents was set up for the portfolio.
Criteria for grading was discussed.
Next weeks spelling/vocabulary:
1. negative - (adj.) a quantity less than zero
2. opposite -(adj) having position on the other, or farther, side
3. reflection - (n) the division of a figure into two halves
4. rotation - (n) revolution or recurrence
5. translation -(n) the sliding of a figure, without turning it
6. infinity - (n) a limitless, endless quantity
7. certain - (adj) absolute, convinced, without doubt
8. coordinate - (n) a position (with an ‘x’ and ‘y’ axis) given to locate a point
9. match - (n) a person or thing exactly like another
10. positive - (adj.) a quantity greater than zero
