Drafting Picture Books: Dialogue

Writing Dialogue

1.       Reread your mentor text. Highlight or underline all the dialogue. What  conclusions can you make about when and why dialogue is included or not included?

a.       Terrible Things:

b.       The Lorax:

c.        Freedom Summer:

d.       And Tango Makes Three:

e.       The Librarian of Basra:

2.       Based on the format of the dialogue, list rules and guidelines for how to write dialogue. Include how to use quotation marks, punctuation, and tag words.

3.       What are other tag words you can use in dialogue, other than “say/said”?

4.       For a detailed explanation of how to write dialogue, read pp. 29-30 on http://www.ket.org/education/guides/pd/teachingtheshortstory.pdf.