Lesson video

Hello everyone.

My name's Mrs. Riley and I'm here today to do some grammar learning with you.

In today's lesson, we're going to be learning all about direct speech and we'll be learning how to use it effectively and how to punctuate it correctly.

This will be so helpful because when you are reading, you might notice, you often come across direct speech, but also, by the end of this lesson, you will feel really confident to include your own direct speech in your own writing.

So that's going to be a really useful tool for us to have an art writing toolbox so that when you write, you will be able to include speech.

Let's get started, shall we? The outcome of today's lesson is to punctuate a speech first sentence.

In today's lesson will be using these keywords.

These are the words that are going to come up again and again in our lesson.

So first of all, let's just practise saying these out loud.

I'm gonna say each one and then I'd like you to repeat it to me.

Are you ready? Direct speech, reporting clause, clause, speech first sentence, inverted commas.

Well done, let's go through what each of these means.

Direct speech is the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text.

A reporting clause is a clause that tells the reader who said the speech and how, perhaps you could picture a reporter on the news and they're telling you who said something and how they said it.

For example, Mrs. Riley excitedly taught the children.

A clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

Let's think about that.

A group of words that contains, means it must have a verb.

A verb is a doing, being or having word.

A speech first sentence is a sentence that includes direct speech before the reporting clause.

For example, "Good morning!" Exclaimed Mrs. Riley cheerfully.

That would be a speech first sentence because the speech was "Good morning children" and that came first before my reporting clause.

Inverted commas are a pair of punctuation marks that signal speech to reader just like a pair of socks where we have two socks, we have a pair of inverted commas.

In our lesson today, we have two learning cycles and in our first learning cycle, we're going to look at the punctuation rules for a speech first sentence.

So if we think about that sentence, "Good morning children!" Exclaimed Mrs. Riley cheerfully.

We're thinking about what punctuation do we need in that sentence.

We know that direct speech shows a character speaking out loud in a text.

"I'm frightened" the little boy nervously told his mum.

"Don't worry" she replied kindly.

"So you want to leave, do you" the menacing man hissed sinisterly.

So in each of these sentences, hopefully you can see that we've got speech first.

The speech or the thing that the person is saying comes first in each sentence.

This is direct speech.

In each sentence, the direct speech comes first.

Direct speech is signalled with inverted commas.

They tell us where the words the character said begin and end.

Can you see the inverted commas? Remember there's a pair of them, there's two of them.

Can you perhaps do some pointing for me and point at where you can see some inverted commas? Let's see, yeah, well done Here they're in the first sentence.

They come at the very beginning to show where this direct speech starts and then they come at the end of the direct speech.

"I'm frightened." That's what the boy says.

So we have the inverted commas around the direct speech.

"Don't worry." That's the part that the mum says.

So we have inverted commas around that.

And finally, "So you want to leave, do you" We've got the inverted commas, a pair, one at the beginning and one at the end of the direct speech.

And these signal or show the reader of this text, what part of it is direct speech and what part isn't direct speech? So they're really, really useful.

Let's check what we've just learnt.

Which of these use direct speech to show exactly what a character said out loud? A, he wondered if he would make it home.

B, "I want to go home" the miserable youth sobbed.

C, would the villain let him go? D, "You're safe now" his mum reassured him.

So the question is, which of these use direct speech? Could you pause the video while you think about your answer? Well done, let's go through each one.

He wondered if he would make it home.

Hmm, there's no one talking there, so that's not including direct speech.

"I want to go home" the miserable youth sobbed.

Ah, I can see that there's inverted commas there and there's direct speeches, "I want to go home." So that one does use direct speech.

Would the villain let him go? No.

That's a rhetorical question, but no one's talking.

None of the characters are saying anything out loud.

"You're safe now" his mum reassured him.

Again, his mum in that one is talking, there is direct speech, "You're safe now," and I can see the inverted which signal to me that that's direct speech.

So that one also includes direct speech.

Well done if you spotted those two.

So far, we know that just before direct speech, the first inverted commas signal is about to begin.

Let's see that in practise.

"I'm frightened" the little boy nervously told his mum.

So we can see here we have the first inverted commas and that signal that my speech is starting, "I'm frightened." Direct speech always starts with a capital letter and we can see that we've got that capital I here.

When the direct speech is first in a sentence, we call it a speech first sentence.

And this is a speech first sentence because the speech comes first, "I'm frightened." There's the speech, the little boy nervously told his mum.

The second inverted commas because we know inverted commas come as a pair, signals that the direct speech has ended.

So "I'm frightened" and then we close it with the second pair, the second inverted commas.

True or false, direct speech always starts with a capital letter.

Is that true or false? Pause the video.

Well done, it is true.

And now, I would like you to justify your answer.

Which of these would you say is the best justification for why that is true? Is it A, direct speech is not always the start of a sentence or B, the first word of direct speech is always the first word of the character sentence that they say out loud.

So you are thinking about which of those sentences is the best description of why direct speech always starts with a capital letter.

Pause the video while you think about that now.

Well done.

The best justification is B, the first word of direct speech is always the first word of the character's sentence that they say out loud.

And that's why it has to have a capital letter.

So we already know that we have to have our pair of inverted commas at the start and end of the speech, our capital letter to start the speech and the speech itself, which is the bit the character is saying, but we also have to have something else.

So before the second inverted commas that signal a direct speech has ended, we need to show how the character said their words.

This can never be a full stop because the rest of the sentence hasn't ended.

For example, if we said, "I'm frightened" full stop, then that next part, the little boy nervously told his mum wouldn't make sense.

So we can never have a full stop there.

We have to choose between three, we've got three choices, an exclamation mark, a question mark or a comma.

Let me just take that away.

We can never have a full stop, but we can have three choices of punctuation.

Can you tell me what they are? Well done.

An exclamation mark, a question mark or a comma.

So if you look back at our sentence scaffold at the end where we've got the inverted commas, capital letter speech, we now can add that final, remember, we said it's like the cherry on the cake, it has to be, we have to have one of those pieces of punctuation before we close with our second inverted commas.

In this sentence, "I'm frightened" we were to choose an exclamation mark.

So let's check what we've just learned.

Which of these could go before the closing inverted commas in a speech first sentence? A, an exclamation mark.

B, a question mark.

C, a comma.

D, a full stop.

Remember, there's more than one option.

Pause the video while you think about your answer.

Well done, it is A, an exclamation mark.

B, a question mark and C, a comma.

All of those could work, but we cannot have a full stop because the sentence hasn't ended.

Deciding between an exclamation mark, question mark or comma depends on what the character has said.

"You're safe now," his mum reassured him kindly.

Now his mum is saying this in a gentle or calm way.

And in that situation, we would use a comma before the second inverted commas.

"So you wanna leave, do you?" The villain hissed.

This isn't gentle or calm, this is a question.

"So you want to leave, do you?" So this has to have a question mark.

"Let me go!" He bellowed as loud as he could.

Now this isn't a question, it's a command and it's not gentle or calm.

This is loud or dramatic.

So here, we would use an exclamation mark.

So in order to decide what piece of punctuation we use, and we know it's never a.

Well done, it's never a full stop, we have to look at what the person is saying, what the character is saying, and then decide what is most appropriate.

Remember, it can never be a full stop in a speech first sentence because the sentence hasn't finished yet.

So let's put this into practise.

I'm going to have a go at this activity and then you're going to have a go at the same activity with a different example.

I'm going to choose the correct punctuation for before the closing inverted commas.

Let's have a look.

So remember, to do this, I need to see it what? See what the character is saying and think about how they're saying it.

"I haven't done anything wrong" the boy cried urgently.

Hmm, now, I think that because it says the boy cried urgently, means he's shouting it urgently very quickly.

I think that this isn't gentle or calm, so it's not going to be a comma.

And he is not asking a question.

So I think this is going to be loud or dramatic, which would be an exclamation mark.

"I haven't done anything wrong!" Exclamation mark.

And then I close my inverted commas.

So your turn now.

Can you decide the correct punctuation before the closing inverted commas in this sentence? "You're safe now" his caring mother told him.

Remember, is it or are the words in the speech gentle or calm? Are they a question or are they loud or dramatic? And that should help you to choose whether you have a comma, a question mark or an explanation mark.

Pause the video while you make your choice now.

His mother is trying to reassure him so she's using gentle or calm words.

And because of that, that's why we would use a comma before the inverted commas.

We now have our full set of rules for puncturing direct speech in a speech first sentence.

There they are, look at them one more time.

So remember, inverted commas come as a pair at the start and end of the speech.

Always speech starts with a capital letter and then we have to have the speech, the thing that the character's saying, and then we decide should it be a comma, question mark or exclamation mark.

It can never be a full stop.

Let's take a look at this sentence then.

Here's a speech first sentence.

Come back here the monster barked at the boy.

So first of all, could you just shout out to me what is the direct speech? What's the thing that the monster is saying? Well done, it's "Come back here." So straight away I know that I have to have my inverted commas to start the speech and then I've got to have my capital letter.

And then before I have my closing inverted commas, I've got to choose my punctuation.

So it can't be a full stop, so let's go through the option.

Come back here.

Well it's not calm and gentle, so I'm not going to use a comma.

Come back here.

It's not a question, so I'm not going to use a question mark.

I'm going to use an exclamation mark because it's loud and dramatic.

And then I can't forget my second inverted commas to show that that speech is now finished.

That's the thing that the character has said.

The rest of my sentence isn't what the character is saying.

So direct speech is really helpful for us to understand more about the characters in a story.

Let's check what we've just learned.

Which two of these are true for speech first sentences? A, the direct speech starts the whole sentence.

B, the direct speech ends the whole sentence.

C, the character always shouts their direct speech.

D, we can choose an exclamation mark, question mark or comma to end direct speech before the final inverted commas.

And maybe want more than one answer, pause the video while you think about this now.

Okay, well done.

So the correct answers are A, the direct speech starts the whole sentence.

So B is incorrect because it doesn't end the sentence.

Now the character doesn't always shout their speech.

Sometimes we know they might said gently and calmly or they might ask a question.

And it is true that we can use an exclamation mark, question mark or comma to end the direct speech before the final inverted commas.

So A and D were both correct or true.

Okay, it's time for your first task of today's lesson.

I would like you to add the pair of inverted commas, the capital letter and the other, remember, the cherry on the cake, the other punctuation to each sentence.

The scaffold is there at the bottom to help you.

So if you are not sure or should the exclamation mark go inside the invert commas or outside, you can have a look at that to help you.

I'm gonna read the sentences to you now.

I'm not coming shouted the boy angrily.

Are you not following instructions? Ms. Barnes asked.

You're all right now his mum reassured him calmly.

I'm sorry I yelled he replied softly.

Pause the video while you complete this task now.

Well done, let's go through the answers together.

So in the first sentence, we've got an exclamation mark.

"I'm not coming!" And that's because the boy shouted it angrily.

So this is quite loud and dramatic.

So we've got an exclamation mark in between the closing inverted commas, we've got the inverted commas to start the speech and a capital letter.

"Are you not following instructions?" Ms. Barnes asked.

So again, we've got our inverted around the thing that Ms. Barnes says, which is, "Are you not following instructions?" We've got a capital letter to start the speech.

And this time because it's a question, we have a question mark before the final inverted commas.

"You're all right now," there's the speech.

We've got our inverted commas around it.

We've got a capital letter for the Y.

And this time because she said it gently or calmly, we have a comma.

"I'm sorry I yelled," he replied softly.

Again, the direct speech, the thing that he says is, "I'm sorry I yelled." So we've got our inverted commas around that part of the sentence.

And then this time, because again, it's calm and gently it says, he said, he replied softly, we've just got a comma before the final inverted commas.

Well done if you manage to correct those sentences.

Okay, it's time to look at our second learning cycle and this second learning cycle, you are going to write a speech first sentence.

So we've looked at all the rules and now it's time for you to write your own speech first sentence.

We know the set of rules for punctuating direct speech in speech first sentences.

We now need to learn a new type of clause, the reporting clause.

Can you remember at the beginning of the lesson, I spoke about pretending to be a reporter, okay? And a clause is a group of words that contains a verb.

And a reporting clause is a special type of clause that tells us who said it and how.

So imagine that reporter on the news saying who said something and how they said it.

"You're mine now!" The villain hissed joyfully at him.

So in this sentence, this speech first sentence, we've got our direct speech, which comes first, "You're mine now!" And I can tell that's direct speech because the inverted commas signal to me that that's the thing that the character is saying or speaking.

And then we've got this part here, the villain hissed joyfully at him.

Now I know this is a clause because it's got a verb in it.

Hissed is a doing verb, it's an action.

So I know this is a clause, but I also know it's a special type of reporting clause because it tells me who said it, the villain, and how he said it, he hissed joyfully.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned.

What is a reporting clause? A, a group of words with no verb that tells us who said the direct speech.

B, a group of words that contains a verb that tells us who said the direct speech and how they said it.

C, the words a character says out loud.

Pause the video while you think about your answer.

Well done, the correct answer is B.

A group of words that contains a verb that tells us who said the direct speech and how they said it.

There are a few things to remember in a reporting clause.

First, we have to have a verb.

And the verb in a reporting clause will be a synonym for said.

So a word that means has a similar meaning to said.

It's a bit boring if you are reading a book.

And in every single line it just said, he said, she said, they said.

So we try to vary with the way we use that word.

So here are some synonyms for said, uttered, stammered, that's if you say p-p-please.

Asked, if it's a question.

Stated, if they were giving a fact.

Urged, if they wanted really wanted something, they might urge you to do it.

Commanded, cried, and bellowed, which is a similar word for shouted.

So there are so many more synonyms of said, I bet you can think of lots more than I've come up with.

But they are some examples of different ways of saying said to make our writing a bit more exciting.

And we can also make our writing exciting by adding an adverb to describe how the character said it.

And here are some examples of adverbs, they all end in ly.

Quietly, nervously, softly, confidently, strongly, boldly, desperately and loudly.

So not all adverbs end in ly, but all of these examples end in ly and they describe how the character said or uttered or stammered, or asked.

We could also use one of these examples, with nerves, in shock, with a sob.

The reporting clause must match the direct speech that was said.

So let's imagine an example sentence.

Perhaps there's a child and there's a knock at the door and they're a bit nervous about who it is.

They might say, "Who is it?" Now we could just say, she said, "Who is it?" She said, but that doesn't really tell me how the character is saying it.

So instead we could use a synonym for said.

"Who is it?" She's stammered.

And then I could add some extra information to describe how she's stammered.

"Who is it?" She's stammered in shock.

So the door's knocked and she stammered in shock.

And now I've got my speech, "Who is it?" But I've also got a reporting clause which is really helping to describe how the character has said the direct speech.

And it's really important that the reporting clause matches the direct speech and how the character is feeling.

For example, in that story, if the girl was feeling nervous and worried about who was at the door, it wouldn't make much sense to say, "Who is it?" She confidently bellowed because that doesn't sound right for the character in that scenario.

So we have to think carefully when we choose our reporting clause to make sure it's really appropriate for how the character is feeling.

Okay, true or false? A reporting clause does not contain a verb.

Is it true or false? Pause the video now.

Well done, it is false.

And now take a look at these justifications.

Which would be better? A, this is false because a reporting clause is another type of clause, a group of words that contains a verb.

Or B, verbs are doing, being or having words.

Pause the video now.

Well done, it is A, verbs are doing being or having words, but the best justification for this answer would be that a reporting clause does not contain a verb is false because a reporting clause is another type of clause, a group of words that contains a verb.

I'm going to choose a reporting clause that matches this direct speech and then you're going to have a go after me.

"Are you disobeying me?" Hmm, now I can see that that's direct speech is punctuated correctly, but now I need to think about a reporting clause.

Let's check the words in the direct speech.

Who is speaking? I think this is from my story where the little boy was having a nightmare and so, "Are you disobeying me?" This was what the evil villain was saying to him.

How are they speaking? Well, I think they're probably speaking in quite a confident, demanding and a bit intimidating way.

So which verb and adverb work here? Hmm, perhaps you could have a think while I have a think as well.

Okay, well, because he's actually asking a question, "Are you disobeying me?" I might use the word asks, which is a synonym for said, "Are you disobeying me?" The man asked.

Hmm, and what adverb? I'm going to go for the man asked terrifyingly because I know this is taken from a nightmare, so he's going to say it in quite a scary way.

So now it's your turn.

So imagine that the boy shouts back at the man and you have to choose a reporting clause that matches this direct speech.

"I'm not afraid of you!" So there're the words.

Who's speaking? How are they speaking? Which verb and adverb work? Pause the video while you think about which would work.

Okay, so in my example, I've got, "I'm not afraid of you!" The boy shouted courageously.

Shouted is the synonym for said and courageously is the adverb to say how he shouted.

You probably came up with a different example and well done for completing that activity.

There are two final important things to remember.

"You're back now," his mother stated softly.

We have to have the direct speech with the correct punctuation mark rules.

We have have to have the reporting clause that tells us who said it and how.

But the reporting clause does not start with a capital letter unless it starts with a name.

So this is one of those things we have to remember.

We can see here, his mother's stated softly.

That's the h, isn't a capital letter if it was, "You're back now," Jerry stated softly, because Jerry is a name that would have a capital letter.

But unless it's somebody's name, we don't have a capital letter because it's not the start of a sentence.

And at the very end of the speech first sentence, you must write a full stop to show the sentence is finished.

So we don't have a full stop where that comma is at the end of the speech because it's not the end of the sentence, but at the end of the whole sentence, we have to have a full stop.

So there are two important things to remember.

True or false.

There is a full stop at the very end of a speech first sentence.

Pause the video now.

Well done, it is true.

And could you justify your answer with either, there is a full stop at the end of the direct speech or B, the full stop comes after the direct speech and the reporting clause at the very end of the sentence.

Pause the video now.

Well done, it's the full stop comes after the direct speech and the reporting clause at the very end of the sentence.

So now we've looked at all our rules, let's put it all together.

We need to decide all these things when we write a speech first sentence.

We have our reporting clause, so the first thing we're going to think is, who is speaking? Then we need to think about what it is they say.

What is the direct speech? Then we think about how to punctuate it.

Are they saying it calmly? In which case we'll have a comma.

Is it a question? Is it quite dramatic? In which case we have an exclamation mark.

And then we can think about how do they say it? Do they quietly mutter it? Do they loudly shout it? So we think about how they say that direct speech.

So let's write a speech first sentence for Izzy.

So what the thing that Izzy says is, I'll do my home learning later.

So what I'd like you to do now is pause the video and just have a little think about how you might put this into a speech first sentence.

So we've got the speech, I'll do my home learning later, I could just say, said Izzy, but that's a bit boring.

So what could you say as your reporting clause to give me a little bit more information about how Izzy is saying this.

And all of your answers will probably be very different.

And that's okay because maybe in your sentence, Izzy is shouting it because she's fed up because someone keeps nagging her to do it over and over again.

Or maybe someone's asked her to just do it for the first time and she's just calmly saying she'll do it later.

So think about how Izzy is feeling before you decide what your reporting clause will be.

Pause the video now.

Well done, so here's an example sentence.

"I'll do my home learning later," Izzy stated confidently.

So here, because she's not particularly hasn't got any strong emotions in this sentence because she just stated it confidently, I've used a comma as the piece of punctuation before my final inverted commas.

But you might have had an exclamation mark if she bellowed, if she angrily bellowed it to her mom instead.

So there's my reporting clause, who is speaking and here's what they say.

And here's my punctuation and stated confidently is how they say it.

And there it is in written out normally, "I'll do my home learning later," Izzy stated confidently.

Okay, let's check what we've just learned before you have a go at writing your own sentence.

Which would you always find in a speech first sentence? A, a reporting clause.

B, a capital letter at the start of the direct speech.

C, a pair of inverted commas and a full stop at the very end.

D, a capital letter at the start of the reporting clause.

Pause the video while you answer that now.

Well done, so the correct answers are, you would always find a reporting clause in a speech first sentence.

You'd always have a capital letter at the start of the direct speech because it's the start of the sentence.

You would always have the pair of inverted commas and a full stop at the very end of the sentence.

But you wouldn't have a capital letter at the start of the reporting clause.

The only time you would have a capital letter at the start of the reporting clause is if the reporting clause started with a name.

For example, "Give it back!" Poppy shouted.

Poppy is a name, it would have a capital letter.

So unless you have a name at the very beginning of the reporting clause, you would not have a capital letter.

Okay, it's time for your your final task of today's lesson.

So today, we are thinking about the character Andeep and I'm going to give you a speech bubble, which is the thing that Andeep says.

You need to write a speech first sentence with the correct punctuation and an appropriate reporting clause.

The scaffold is there to help you.

So once you've written your sentence, you could almost go through and check each thing and do a little tick, maybe a tick in the air.

Have I got my inverted commas? Have I got my capital letter at the start of my speech? Have I got the piece of punctuation before the final inverted commas? Have I got a reporting clause? Have I got a full stop at the very end? So are you ready to see what Andeep says? Andeep says, let's go to the park later, okay? So you can think about the story behind that, how he's feeling when he says it.

And all of those things will influence what your reporting clause is.

Remember to check the scaffold there to check you've got all the different ingredients in your speech first sentence and good luck.

Pause the video now.

Well done, you should feel very proud of yourselves writing a speech first sentence.

Let's just check your sentence.

Have you used the correct punctuation for speech first? Here it is.

So have you got all of those things in your sentence? Does your reporting clause include, who was speaking? A synonym for said? And an adverb to show how it was said? So perhaps you could pause the video now while you just quickly go through that scaffold and check the punctuation, and then check you've got who was speaking, a synonym for said and an adverb to show how it was said.

And if you haven't got any of those things or if you think you've made a mistake, just correct it or add it in.

That's a really important skill in our writing is to be able to read back, check our work, and improve it.

So do that now please.

Excellent, well done.

So here are some example sentences.

"Let's go to the park later!" Andeep shouted excitedly.

Now because he shouted it excitedly, here, I've used an exclamation mark before my final inverted commas to show that that excitement.

"Let's go to the park later," suggested Andeep kindly.

He's saying this in more of a gentle or calm way.

So this time I've got a comma before my inverted commas.

"Let's go to the park later!" Cried Andeep with a grin.

So again, we can see here, 'cause he's cried it 'cause he's not cried sadly 'cause it's got with the grin, so he's obviously excited.

I've used an exclamation mark to show that excitement.

So we can see in each of those sentences, I've got my inverted commas around the speech, the direct speech, which is, "Let's go to the park later." All of those sentences start with a capital letter at the beginning of the speech, the capital L.

I've got different punctuation before the final inverted commas and then I've got, who says it, Andeep in each one.

And I've got a synonym for said, so the first synonym is shouted.

The second synonym is suggested and the third synonym is cried, and then I say how he said it.

In the first one, excitedly, in the second sentence, kindly, in the third sentence with a grin.

So well done if you manage to include all those things in your own sentence.

So let's summarise what we've learned today.

We've learned that a speech first sentence is a sentence where the direct speech comes first before the reporting clause.

A reporting clause tells the reader who said the direct speech and how.

There is a set of punctuation rules that must be followed when writing speech first sentences.

The direct speech always starts with a capital letter.

In a speech first sentence, there is punctuation before the closing inverted commas that can never be a full stop.

So well done for all your hard work today, and I'm hoping that you're feeling really proud of yourselves, that you have this new amazing skill that you can now include speech in your writing.

Perhaps this week, you could try and include in your writing some speech and think about all those things we've learned about today, the punctuation rules, the reporting clause, how your character might be feeling, and so how they might say something.

All those things we've learned today are going to be so helpful in your writing.

So well done for all your hard work and hopefully, I'll see you for some more learning another time.

Bye.