Robert Munsch Dialogue Mini-Lesson

Robert Munsch Dialogue Mini-Lesson

• Robert Munsch uses dialogue in his fictional narratives to create strong characters, to create a repeating pattern, and to add humor to his stories.

• Let’s learn how to use dialogue in our stories by looking closely at how Robert Munsch uses dialogue in his stories.

Stephanie’s Ponytail• First, let’s take a look at the first page of

Stephanie’s Ponytail.

Stephanie’s Ponytail• Who are the characters talking?

• What do you notice about the punctuation in the dialogue Robert Munsch uses on the first page of this story?

• Let’s go back and look and use the promethean board to highlight and write down what we notice.

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 1.) Identify the character who is speaking.•

Stephanie said, “It’s my ponytail and I like it.”

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 2.) Place quotation marks “….” around the words that actually come out of the character/person’s mouth.

• Example, One day Stephanie went to her mom and said, “None of the kids in my class have a ponytail. I want a nice ponytail coming right out the back.”

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 3.) Place ending periods and commas inside the end quotation mark.

• When Stephanie went to school, the other kids looked at her and said, “Ugly, ugly, very ugly.”

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 4.) Place proper punctuation at the end of the sentence.

• “Stephanie said, “It’s my ponytail and I like it.”

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 5.) Each time a person speaks, begin a new paragraph or skip a line.

• When Stephanie went to school, the other kids looked at her and said, “Ugly, ugly, very ugly.”

Stephanie said, “It’s my ponytail and I like it.”

What We Learned About Dialogue From Robert Munsch

• 6.) Capitalize the first word of what the person says, even if it occurs in the middle of a sentence.

• “No it’s not,” said Stephanie. “I want one coming out the side, just above my ear.”

• “Very strange,” said mom. “Are you sure that is what you want?”

Let’s Try It Out• In your writer’s toolbox, take a look at your

story map. Look at your problem section and consider the dialogue that will take place between your characters.

• For practice, try writing down dialogue between two characters using quotation marks.

• We will come and check and see how you are doing.