Lesson Plan
Lesson 9: Quotation Marks in Narrative Writing
60 minutes | Suitable for Grades: 3 - 4A 60 minute lesson in which students will explore the correct use of quotation marks in narrative writing.
This lesson plan includes the following resources:
Lesson Plan
Tuning In
- Watch the video of The Gruffalo – Narrated by Ollie Heath on YouTube. While watching, ask the students to pay particular attention to the narrator’s voice. At the end of the video, ask the students:
- What did you notice about the voices used by the man reading the story?
- Why do you think he changed his voice in this way?
- When reading a story, how do we know when a character is speaking?
Teacher Instruction
- Discuss the purpose of quotation marks, as outlined on slide 5 of the Using Quotation Marks in Narrative Writing PowerPoint.
- Show the students the three ways that direct speech can be written, using the examples on slides 6-8. As a class, add the missing quotation marks to the text on slide 9. Review the answers on slide 10.
- Discuss the punctuation rules associated with using quotation marks, as outlined on slides 11-14. As a class, add the missing punctuation marks to the text on slide 15. Review the answers on slide 16.
Guided/Independent Learning
- Display and discuss the review of quotation marks on slide 17. As a class, use quotation marks to record the conversations of the characters on slides 18-20.
- Display the quotation marks activity on slide 21. Read through the activity as a class and answer any questions the students may have.
- Allow the students to work in pairs to write a conversation between two of the characters on the slide. Monitor and support the students as required.
Wrapping Up
- Allow each pair to read their conversations to the class. Encourage them to try and use a ‘character voice’ for the direct speech and their normal voice for the narration.
Differentiation
Extending Students
- Allow more confident writers to work individually, rather than in pairs (if they wish to do so).
Supporting Students
- Allow students who find writing challenging to work with a teacher or teacher aide during the pair activity.
Assessment Strategies
Suggested Assessment Strategies
- used strategic whole class or individual questioning
- observed student participation during learning activities
- recorded student progress on a checklist
- annotated student work samples
- collected and reviewed student work samples
- facilitated whole class or peer feedback sessions
- encouraged student self-reflection
- administered formal assessment tasks.
NSW Curriculum alignment
- EN2-9B
Uses effective and accurate sentence structure, grammatical features, punctuation conventions and vocabulary relevant to the type of text when responding to and composing texts
Australian Curriculum alignment
- ACELA1492
Recognise how quotation marks are used in texts to signal dialogue, titles and quoted (direct) speechElaborationsexploring texts to identify the use of quotation marks (Skills: Literacy, Critical and Creative Thinking)experimenting with the use of qu...
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Resource Updates
Added an alternative video clip for the lesson.
Change by Kristian Mar 31st, 2019
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This video is unavailable is there another option for this lesson?
Thank you
Sunshine Tiday · Mar 30th, 2019
Hi Sunshine,
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. I have updated the lesson with an alternative video.
If there is anything else I can assist you with, please don’t hesitate to contact me.
Kristian · Apr 1st, 2019