One Woolly Jumper

Learning intention

I am learning to examine the use of quotation marks for quoted speech versus sounds that characters hear and to experiment with using these.

Success criteria

I can:

• identify quotation marks
• analyse how quotation marks are used
• experiment with using quotation marks
• compose examples of onomatopoeia

Essential knowledge

Ensure students are familiar with the term quotation marks. Use the English K-10 Syllabus Glossaryungroup to view a summary of when quotation marks are used.

Introduction

Ask students the following question:

• What is your favourite food?

Record examples on the board, writing using quoted speech but leaving all the speech punctuation off for now.

• I like noodles and ice-cream said Vasilli.
• Pizza and sushi are my favourite said Edna.
• Luca hollered, I love every kind of food, except peas.

Discuss the following:

• Which are the parts of the sentence that people said? (I like noodles and ice-cream, Pizza and sushi are my favourite, I love every kind of food, except peas.)
• How do we show quoted speech? (We use quotation marks around everything that a person said)
• Where should we place a comma? (Between the quoted speech and the remainder of the sentence)

Discuss how to punctuate each of the sentences and edit the sentence to include the correct quoted speech punctuation. For example:

• ‘I like noodles and ice-cream,’ said Vasilli.
• ‘Pizza and sushi are my favourite,’ said Edna.
• Luca hollered, ‘I love every kind of food, except peas.’

Read One Woolly Jumper or listen to the audio file if you have a digital subscription.

Teacher modelling – 15 minutes

Re-read the first page of the story (page 9) to students. Use the think-aloud strategy to emphasise that some of the elements that can be heard have quotation marks, for example:

‘Mum ... I’m home!’

Sounds, such as, Clickety-clack, clickety-clack, don’t have quotation marks. Discuss reasons for this. Inform students that the words that are spoken require quotation marks whereas the sounds that can be heard (onomatopoeia), do not require quotation marks. Identify further examples of sounds that don’t require quotations marks on page 9, for example:

Baaaa, baaaa

Draw students' attention to the fact that when onomatopoeia is included in this text, italics have been used.

Guided practice – 15 minutes

Place students in pairs and instruct them to identify further examples of both quoted speech and onomatopoeia on the remaining pages. Students can underline examples in a photocopy of the text, using a different coloured pencil for both quoted speech and for onomatopoeia. Alternatively, students might edit a digital version of the story using the highlight function.

Inform students that they will be experimenting with using both quoted speech and onomatopoeia in a text. Inform students that first the class will compose some examples together collaboratively.

Play a number of sounds to students, either digitally from a site such as Sound Effectsungroup from the BBC or using musical instruments. Discuss how the sounds might be written, for example:

• Ting, ting, ting (for a bell)
• Wup, wup, wup (for a drum)
• Eeek, eeek, eeek (for a violin)

Instruct students to use partner talk to discuss their preferences for the sounds and which they dislike. Instruct students to share their ideas and record the names of the students who shared their ideas next to their responses. For example:

• I don’t like the violin. (Sanjo)
• I love the bell. (Peyton)

Discuss how these ideas can be converted into quoted speech. For example:

• ‘I don’t like the violin!’ exclaimed Sanjo.
• ‘I love the bell,’ said Peyton. 

Insert the sounds between the quoted speech so the lines the students said appear as a reaction to the sound. For example:

Eeek, eeek, eeek

‘I don’t like the violin!’ exclaimed Sanjo.

Ting, ting, ting

‘I love the bell,’ said Peyton. 

Independent activity – 15 minutes

Inform students that they will be recording sounds they hear using onomatopoeia and inserting quoted speech as reactions to the sound. Instruct students to work with the same partner as previously. Take students on a walk around the playground and tell them to record sounds they hear in their workbooks. Provide examples such as:

• Cheep, cheep, cheep (for a bird)
• Brrrrrr, brrrrr, brrrr (for a car)
• Bang, crack, smack (for a digger)
• Nee nar, nee-nar (for an emergency siren)

Return to class and instruct students to discuss their responses to the sounds. Tell them to make notes on what their partner says. Provide examples, such as:

• The siren is so loud, it drills my ears.
• The bird’s call makes me feel calm and relaxed.

Instruct students to use quotation marks and speech tags to punctuate their and their partner’s responses to the sounds. Tell students to insert the sounds before the reactions. Allow time for students to construct examples.

Differentiation

Provide students who need support with the following scaffold:

• The sound I will focus on is:
• It makes the sound:
• My partner said:
• Now re-write what your partner said and include the following:

1. Put quotation marks around the parts of the sentence your partner said
2. Include their name, for example: Taione said.
3. Remember to use a comma to separate what your partner said and the rest of the sentence

Students who require further support can be provided with the following sentences to cut out and order, then add the quoted speech punctuation to:

• The sound is so loud it hurts my ears Taione said.
• Cheep, cheep, cheep
• Brrr, brrr, brrr.
• That is the sweetest sound I have ever heard.

Students may cut and paste the sentences digitally or on a paper copy. Instruct students requiring extension to experiment with embedding the speech tags within the quoted speech. Display examples such as:

• ‘The sound is so loud,’ Taione said, ‘so very, very loud.’
• ‘That’s the sweetest sound,’ Larissa screamed, ‘that I have ever heard.’

Emphasise details such as:

• Quoted speech tags go either side of all quoted speech
• Commas are used to separate the quoted speech and the speech tags

Assessment

Collect work samples. Use the Punctuation section of the National Literacy Learning Progressionungroup to assess the literacy capability for each student in terms of quotation marks. Use the document to identify the next steps for each student.