Inner or Outer Dialogue? Sort the Lines From a Story

Read the lines aloud and ask whether each one was said or only thought. Check the sort and the paragraph marks with the answer key.

Sort 8 lines from a made-up spelling bee story into inner and outer dialogue, then write 1 of each. Inner dialogue is a thought. Outer dialogue is said out loud. The directions on the page read: Read the Example and the 8 lines. Then, in Part A, write the number of each line in the Inner dialogue or Outer dialogue column, 4 in each. Then, in Part B, write 1 inner line and 1 outer line. An answer key is included.

Yes, both. We made it for 5th Grade narrative writing, and the page works the same whether it lands on a kitchen table or a center rotation. At home, most families go through it together and talk the answers out loud, and that talking is where most of the learning happens with inner and outer dialogue. In class it runs well as independent work while you pull a small group. Print one copy or thirty, whichever the day needs.

Outer dialogue is spoken aloud and goes inside quotation marks. Inner dialogue is a thought, often tagged with thought or wondered, like My hands are shaking, Rosa thought. The spelling bee page sorts 8 lines into the two kinds.

Start a new paragraph each time a different character speaks. The relay race page has students mark the 6 places a new speaker starts, then write the next 2 turns as new paragraphs.

Thoughts show what a character feels but does not say. In the secret scene planner, what the character says aloud and what the character thinks can differ, which builds tension.

Three of the 4 sheets do. The secret scene planner has no key, since every scene is different.