Grades 6–8
1 Session, 1 Hour
NarrativeSparks
Leah Tribbett (she/her) teaches 7th grade ELA and Social Studies in Boston, Massachusetts. In her role, Leah has written original curriculum, planned and led both department and whole staff PD, managed a whole school curriculum around identity, and mentored new teachers.
Students will learn how to write authentic dialogue that reveals information about the characters, plot, and conflict.
Students will produce dialogue that’s authentic to the characters and to themselves.
Note to Educators: This mini-lesson is designed to support students as they write narratives. We recommend teaching the lesson before students develop the rising action of their narratives, so that they can practice using authentic dialogue as a tool for characterization and plot development.
Introduce the focus question: Why is authentic dialogue important?
Framing
Frame the purpose of the day with students: “I know I don’t have to tell you that dialogue is essential to a good story! We’re going to really focus on what authentic—or real dialogue looks like, but first, check in with your partner and remind each other what rules we always, always have to follow with dialogue.”
Give students 1-2 minutes to check in before reporting back.
Review “the rules”:
No spaces between the quotation marks and dialogue A space between the dialogue and the rest of the sentence...
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