Why it’s Important To Use Alternatives to Said in Dialogue

Imagine how boring a book would be if everyone only “said” their lines. 

Said lacks insight. 

Said is devoid of underlying feelings, thoughts and internal motivations.

Said doesn’t develop an intimate connection between the character and the reader. 

Narrative writing creates an atmosphere through language that conveys a character’s feelings, thoughts, internal motivations and settings. 

How to Play Our Dialogue Writing Activity 

Students read the speech bubble and choose the dialogue style that best matches what is said. For example, on the “It was me that stole it!” slide, students will drag and drop dialogue styles like:

• blurted
• admitted
• shouted
• announced
• declared.

Google Slides users must be in Edit mode to drag and drop on-page elements (not Presentation mode.) 

Through this activity, students will show they understand how different types of texts can employ language depending on their purpose, context and intended audience.

Scaffolding + Extension Tips 

A team of dedicated, experienced educators created this resource to support your English lessons. 

Check out these suggestions for using this activity to reinforce learning: 

🆘 Support Struggling Students

Make a separate copy of the Google Slides document. Limit the options of dialogue styles for students to choose from by deleting them from the slides. Additionally, have students work in pairs or teams to act out the speech bubble phrases and determine with dialogue styles work with the sentence.  

➕ Challenge Fast Finishers

Have students put on their creative writing hats by writing new speech bubble phrases for each of the Ways to Speak on the slides.   

✋ Class Review

Turn this activity into an assessment at the end of your lesson or right before a test to give students some extra practice. Project the Google Slides and read through each speech bubble and dialogue style as a group. Call on students to drag and drop matches into the boxes. Additionally, students can write the sentences as dialogue in their writing notebooks. (Google Slides users must be in Edit mode to move the pieces, not Presentation mode.)   

Looking for a hands-on activity? Check out our No More ‘Said’ – Card Game!  

Easily Prepare This Resource for Your Students

Please note that this activity is an interactive Google Slides resource. 

After downloading, make a copy of the resource: 

1. Click on File.
2. From the dropdown menu, hover your cursor over Make a copy.
3. From the side bar, click on Entire presentation. 
4. On-page elements are moveable in Edit mode only.

Alternatively, turn this activity into worksheets by printing each slide for students to record their answers. 

Turn students into capable writers with these activities and teaching resources:

teaching resource Wheely Wonderful Words – Overused Verbs Get rid of those overused verbs with a word wheel of synonyms. teaching resource Synonyms Anchor Chart Pack Print a pack of colourful synonym posters to boost vocabulary in the classroom! teaching resource Saying Verbs Poster A poster giving the definition and examples of saying verbs.