Writing dialogue tags

General

Dialogue tags help us separate and attribute speech within a text. Correctly using dialogue tags is an important writing skill, whether you're writing for school, fun, or business.

Dialogue tags can appear anywhere in a sentence, and the placement of a tag within a sentence affects how it's punctuated.

- When a dialogue tag appears at the beginning of a sentence, a comma is placed before the first quotation mark. The end punctuation is then placed before the last quotation mark.
- If a dialogue tag appears in the middle of a quote, a comma precedes the last quotation mark of the first set, and then the next end punctuation precedes the last quotation mark.
- If a dialogue tag appears at the end of a sentence, a comma precedes the last quotation mark, and end punctuation is used as usual.

Standards

CCSS.ELA-Literacy.L.3.2c
CCSS.ELA-Literacy.W.3.3b

Learning objective

Students will be able to use dialogue in my writing by using dialogue tags correctly.

Introduction

Students will drag the correct character to what they in a story. They will read another dialogue and circle the part that shows who is speaking.

Instruction

Explain that dialogue tags can be placed at the beginning, middle, and end of a sentence. Discuss why dialogue is important. Next, students will put words from a sentence in order, including punctuation. They will also read a short passage and identify dialogue tags and what the character is actually saying. Then, students will work with a partner to write what they say to a few prompts, including, "What is your favorite season and why?" into a dialogue.

Quiz

These ten multiple-choice problems ask students to identify the placement of the dialogue tag and ensure the tags are punctuated correctly based on where they are in the sentence.

Closing

Students will recall what they learned:
- Why is dialogue important within a text or in your writing?
- What is a dialogue tag?
- Where can a dialogue tag be placed within a sentence?

Teaching tips

One activity prompts students to ask each other about their favorite season and why, and then render the answer into dialogue. Consider having students share their answers with the rest of the class!

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