"Dialogue!" she exclaimed.

       "View this slide show for a refresher on how to punctuate and write dialogue," Ms. Taylor told the exhausted class.
       Holden sighed and put his head down on his desk. "I've never gotten this whole dialogue-punctation thing," he whined. "Why, Ms. Taylor, why? Why do we have to learn this?"
       Ms. Taylor smiled at Holden and the rest of the class. "Someday, Holden," she said gently, "you or someone else in this class will be a famous author--probably Isaac. He's very adept at writing fiction." She looked directly at Isaac. "Or Marissa may write a memoir filled with wonderful similes. Reading her memoir is like finding the marshmallows in a box of Lucky Charms."
     "That's a horrible simile, Ms. Taylor," Archie exclaimed. "Can't you come up with anything better?"
     "It's pretty bad," Mattie whispered to Bryce, who stifled a laugh.
     "Enough!" Ms. Taylor yelled. "This isn't a lesson on figurative language. This is about dialogue! You had better write some excellent dialogue in your memoirs."
 

Punctuating Quotations and Writing Dialogue in Narrative Writing from jfreisen

Comma Drama

Commas from gibb0

Article of the Week #1: ISIS

Please access this document.  Make a copy for yourself with your name at the beginning of the title. Share it with me (mtaylor--Melissa Taylor). As you read, make quality annotations about your confusion and your thinking. Write a one-page analysis which will be due next Friday, September 5th.

Vocabulary Roots

Vocabulary is often the best predictor of overall intelligence and academic ability. How can you improve your vocabulary without learning thousands of words? Discover your roots. Let's take a pre-test to see where you're at.

Over the weekend, please complete the vocabulary homework.

If you want to further increase your vocabulary, you should:

• visit freerice.com--Play and save the world. Each time you get a question correct, 10 grains of rice are donated to the World Food Program.
• download the iVocab app on your Macbook.
• download Vocab Hero on your smartphone.

Smiley Face Tricks

Smiley face tricks are what writers use to make readers...well, smile. Here's a list of the most popular tricks with examples. Let's focus on reworking your introduction if it is less-than-perfect. Choose one technique to use as your very first sentence (2-7 would work best) and build on that to make your opening engaging. Then add figurative language and Magic 3 anywhere else in your memoir.

Course Expectations and Your First Writing Assignment

You will be completing a writing assessment today. Here are the steps you need to follow:

1. Access this document.

2. Make a copy for yourself.

3. Change the title to include your name (instead of "copy of").

4. Share it with me (mtaylor@student.liberty.k12.mo.us). PLEASE DO NOT SEND ME AN EMAIL NOTIFICATION.

5. When you are finished, please print out a copy (LMC printer) and turn it in to me. While you are in the LMC, you need to check out a book.

6. If you finish your writing before the class period is over, please review these expectations.

7. Once you understand how your behavior should look in class, you may read your book (the one you just checked out from the LMC). You may not play on your computer--reading is important. If you choose to use your computer for things other than our class activities, you can store it on my back counter each day.

If you do not finish your writing, please complete it over the weekend and turn it in to me on Monday.

Thank you for a great first week. Have a wonderful weekend!