How to Teach Dialogue with Quality Teaching Resources

How to Teach Dialogue Writing (Speech Marks and Direct Speech) in the Primary Classroom

Teaching dialogue is often reduced to rules about speech marks and commas. Students learn where to place punctuation, complete a few isolated exercises, and then are often expected to apply this knowledge independently in their writing.

Featured: Dialogue Activities - Direct Speech Bundle

Research in writing instruction suggests this approach is not enough. Effective writing instruction requires explicit teaching, modelling, guided practice, and opportunities for independent application within meaningful contexts. When students only practise isolated rules, they may be able to identify correct dialogue — but struggle to use it effectively.

If we want students to confidently write dialogue, we need to move beyond surface-level punctuation and teach direct speech as both a grammatical structure and a tool for meaning.

Featured: Dialogue Activity - Speech Marks Editing

What Students Need to Know About Dialogue (Direct Speech)

Dialogue, or direct speech, sits at the intersection of grammar and composition. Students need to control the mechanics while also understanding its purpose in a text.

At a foundational level, students require explicit instruction in:

Speech marks (inverted commas)
Capital letters at the beginning of speech
Commas before dialogue tags
Appropriate saying (reporting) verbs
New line for each speaker

However, research into writing development highlights that students also need to understand why dialogue is used.

Dialogue reveals character, advances the narrative, and conveys emotion. Without this understanding, dialogue often becomes repetitive, unrealistic, or disconnected from the context.

A More Effective Approach: Text Messages to Dialogue

One of the most effective entry points for teaching dialogue writing is through text message conversations. Students already understand how conversations flow, making this a familiar and accessible starting point.

Rewriting text messages as dialogue allows students to focus on translating informal communication into correctly punctuated direct speech.

Differentiated Dialogue Practice

Differentiation is critical when teaching grammar and writing. Providing two or more versions of the same task allows all students to access the learning while maintaining high expectations and providing a stretch in learning.

Featured: Dialogue in Action: Text Message Exchange Student Activity

Version 1: Text Messages With Basic Grammar

Students are given a text message exchange that includes correct use of basic punctuation.

Students rewrite the text message exchange as dialogue, focusing on:

Speech marks
Commas
Saying verbs

This supports students who are still developing control over dialogue punctuation by isolating the key skill.

Version 2: Text Messages Without Grammar

Students are given a version of the same exchange without basic punctuation.

Students rewrite the dialogue while also:

Applying basic sentence punctuation
Using correct speech marks and commas
Selecting appropriate dialogue tags (saying verbs)

This increases cognitive demand and supports students in integrating multiple writing conventions simultaneously, a key goal in upper primary writing.

Extension: Writing Additional Lines of Dialogue

Once students have rewritten the conversation, they can extend the written piece by adding two additional lines of dialogue.

This step is significant. It moves the task from transcription to composition. Students must:

Maintain the tone and meaning of the original exchange
Demonstrate comprehension of the scenario
Apply dialogue conventions independently

Extending dialogue supports both writing fluency and comprehension, as students must understand the context before continuing the conversation.

Developing Creative Application: Visual Prompts for Dialogue Writing

Once students can apply dialogue conventions accurately, they need opportunities to use dialogue in more open-ended ways.

Visual prompts provide a strong scaffold while still allowing for creativity. Students are shown an image and asked to write a dialogue that matches the scene.

This approach supports students to:

Infer context and relationships
Generate realistic dialogue
Apply punctuation in authentic writing

Open-ended dialogue tasks encourage students to experiment with voice and structure, moving beyond formulaic responses.

Featured: Dialogue Activity - Direct Speech: Insects (also available in animals and people)

Teaching dialogue is about helping students understand how written conversation works and how they contributes to meaning in a text.

When students are given structured, contextualised opportunities to practise dialogue through rewriting, editing, and creating they are more likely to transfer these skills into their own writing.

The goal is not for students to not only recognise correct dialogue. It is for them to write it with confidence, accuracy, and purpose.