Punctuating Dialog By Miss O.

What is wrong? “There are different types of clouds,” the teacher told the class. “Which type is the big, fluffy, white ones?” Natalie asked curiously. “Those are called cumulous.” “Wait! Then what are cumulonimbus clouds?” questioned Aidan. The teacher turned toward the eager student and replied, “Those are the clouds that form thunderstorms.” “Are they really tall?” Alana wanted to know. “Yes!” exclaimed Alex, “Look at the picture! They are huge!” “Wow,” declared Alexa, “We normally don’t see the whole cumulonimbus cloud during a storm, just the bottom part of it that is really dark.” “I know,” said Blain. “There are a lot of things I still want to learn about these types of clouds.”

How can we fix this? Skip lines when a speaker changes! Indent to indicate the new speaker just like a new paragraph. This will make your writing less confusing to your readers!

Fixing it! “There are different types of clouds,” the teacher told the class. “Which type is the big, fluffy, white ones?” Natalie asked curiously. “Those are called cumulous.” “Wait! Then what are cumulonimbus clouds?” questioned Aidan. The teacher turned toward the eager student and replied, “Those are the clouds that form thunderstorms.”

Fixing it (continued) “Are they really tall?” Alana wanted to know. “Yes!” exclaimed Alex, “Look at the picture! They are huge!” “Wow,” declared Alexa, “We normally don’t see the whole cumulonimbus cloud during a storm, just the bottom part of it that is really dark.” “I know,” said Blain. “There are a lot of things I still want to learn about these types of clouds.”

I walked into the room. Mary was there. She asked, “What are you doing I walked into the room. Mary was there. She asked, “What are you doing?” I said, “I just came in to see if you wanted to start dinner.” “I already ate before I came home.” I said, “Well, will you help me anyway?” “No.” I asked her, “Why not?” She screamed, “Because I already ate! What’s wrong with you?” “Nothing,” I said. “I’m going to leave,” I said. “Fine,” she said, and went back to looking at the TV. I left the room.

I walked into the room. Mary was there. She asked, “What are you doing I said, “I just came in to see if you wanted to start dinner.” “I already ate before I came home.” I said, “Well, will you help me anyway?” “No.” I asked her, “Why not?” She screamed, “Because I already ate! What’s wrong with you?” “Nothing,” I said.

What do I NEED to do to my story to make the dialog correct?

Tomorrow’s Task Peer editing What does that look like? Take turns reading stories aloud to one another. Fix the dialog punctuation! Symbol for new paragraph  Does what I wrote make sense? Clear? Fix sentences that are difficult to read or need to be clarified. Change words to make story less confusing or have more detail to help the reader/listener understand better!