Narrative Writing Lessons and More: Teaching Dialogue

One thing I always tried to do in my literacy instruction was weave reading and writing together whenever possible. This was especially true when I chose narrative writing lessons. I hope this post helps you do the same. One year I chose the phrase “Read like a writer and write like a reader,” and we spent the year digging into what that really means.

Studying Characters in Narrative Writing Lessons

As we started our narrative unit, we spent a great deal of time studying our main read aloud, Fish in a Tree, along with other picture books I selected. We studied the characters, their traits, their actions, and finally their words. Then we created our own characters that we later inserted into some “mini” narratives.

The students were so engaged, and I saw them thinking more deeply about the characters in their own books. (Note: This student had a bad experience with a pigeon. I guess my hint that authors often work their real lives into their books paid off.)

Creating a Story Arc or Story Map

From story arc to detailed plan, this really helped students plan ahead, make sure they had a clear ending, and gave them a place to add quality sensory details.

Learning How to Write Dialogue

As we started to uncover all the ways authors help readers get to know characters, I challenged my students to do the same in their own writing. We wanted our readers to really know our characters.

Students grabbed their independent reading books (one of my favorite parts of this lesson, since it works for every level) and began hunting for dialogue tags.

We captured our examples on sticky notes and then regrouped to share. I added their discoveries to a class chart, and we dug into what those tags really communicate. How does “mumbled” feel different from “shouted”? What does it tell us about a character if they “demand” something?

Practice Punctuating Dialogue

If you have taught dialogue before, you know how challenging it can be to get students to punctuate it correctly. There is a lot to remember. I went back into our read aloud, Fish in a Tree, and had students practice with these sentence frames. I gave them permission to change the tag to match the characters, but I really wanted them to think about what these characters might say.

I also wanted them to use the guides to punctuate these made-up sentences. They worked in pairs for a while and then shared with others. They had a great time imagining they were these characters and came up with some great dialogue.

Then I wanted to give them more practice, so I used this punctuating dialogue sort where they had to manipulate the parts of the sentences and mindfully add the punctuation. It was challenging for some, but I saw many of them referring back to the pink strips from the lesson before.

Finally, I reminded students that dialogue isn’t just random talking. It’s a back-and-forth that matters. We talked about how these conversations help move the story along and give readers insight into a character’s thoughts, feelings, or plans. Every line of dialogue should have a reason for being there.

We worked in partners to write dialogue scenarios based on my dialogue task cards, and we had a blast. It was a great chance for me to walk around and coach on punctuation, remind students about indenting for new speakers, and so on.

It was so much fun to see their creativity shine. Their writing clearly reflected their understanding of how authors reveal characters, and it naturally opened the door for us to dig a little deeper into their craft.

Using Fish in a Tree to Put All the Pieces Together

With all the pieces in place, we were finally ready to write our narratives. It’s funny. We spent two weeks preparing and just three days actually writing. It was amazing to see how all of those quick writes paid off. Students could clearly see how the planning made their stories feel almost effortless.

When I asked how many felt this was the best thing they had ever written, it was almost unanimous. And if you’re working on narrative writing, I can’t recommend Fish in a Tree enough. It’s such a powerful mentor text for studying character development, change, and growth.