New
New
Year 5

Speech interrupted: inverted commas and punctuation rules

I can accurately punctuate a speech interrupted sentence.

New
New
Year 5

Speech interrupted: inverted commas and punctuation rules

I can accurately punctuate a speech interrupted sentence.

Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Inverted commas are the punctuation that signal direct speech to the reader.
  2. A speech interrupted sentence begins with a character's spoken words.
  3. The character's spoken words are interrupted by the reporting clause.
  4. The character's spoken words resume after the reporting clause and the speech interrupted sentence ends.
  5. A character's spoken words must be chosen carefully to include a natural break when punctuating speech interrupted.

Common misconception

Pupils may omit the commas from a speech interrupted sentence or include an extra capital letter.

Use the graphic included in the slides as a visual prompt for pupils when writing speech interrupted.

Keywords

  • Direct speech - the term used for a character speaking out loud in a text

  • Speech interrupted sentence - a sentence in which a character's speech is interrupted by the reporting clause

  • Inverted commas - a pair of punctuation marks that signal direct speech to the reader

  • Reporting clause - a clause that tells the reader who said the speech sentence and how

All three types of speech sentence (speech first, speech second and speech interrupted) are included in this lesson. Review them frequently in modelled writing and display the visuals for pupils to refer to in writing tasks.
Teacher tip

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

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6 Questions

Q1.
Which of the following pieces of punctuation can be used to end a sentence?
Correct answer: full stop
comma
Correct answer: question mark
Correct answer: exclamation mark
Q2.
Match the sentence to the most likely ending punctuation.
Correct Answer:full stop,You need to leave the room

You need to leave the room

Correct Answer:question mark,Will you leave the room please

Will you leave the room please

Correct Answer:exclamation mark,Leave the room right now

Leave the room right now

Q3.
Which sentence is correctly punctuated?
Next, open your books?
Next open your books,
Correct answer: Next, open your books.
Q4.
What is the name for the punctuation used here: "Where are you?" she asked.
apostrophes
commas
Correct answer: inverted commas
Q5.
Which sentence contains inverted commas around the words the character has said?
Correct answer: "Welcome to my home," said Aisha with a smile.
"Welcome to my home, said Aisha" with a smile.
"Welcome to my home, said Aisha with a smile."
Q6.
Which part of this sentence was not said out loud: "Can I help?" said Mr McIntyre with a smile.
Can I help?
said Mr McIntyre
Correct answer: said Mr McIntyre with a smile

6 Questions

Q1.
What is the purpose of direct speech?
to tell us who said something and how
Correct answer: to show the words someone said out loud
to show the actions someone performed as they spoke
Q2.
Which of the following might we find in a reporting clause?
Correct answer: the name of the speaker
Correct answer: an adverb for how they spoke
Correct answer: an action they performed as they spoke
the words they said
Q3.
Which of these speech first sentences is correctly punctuated?
"Can you help me" asked Sofia quietly.
Correct answer: "Can you help me?" asked Sofia quietly.
"Can you help me? asked Sofia quietly."
Q4.
Which speech second sentence is punctuated correctly?
Correct answer: Jun asked, "Is it home time yet?"
Jun asked "Is it home time yet?"
Jun asked, "Is it home time yet"?
Q5.
Match the type of speech sentence to the example.
Correct Answer:speech first,"This time, I'm going to win!" bellowed Andeep.

"This time, I'm going to win!" bellowed Andeep.

Correct Answer:speech second,Andeep muttered, "This time, I'm going to win."

Andeep muttered, "This time, I'm going to win."

Correct Answer:speech interrupted,"This time," Andeep scowled, "I'm going to win."

"This time," Andeep scowled, "I'm going to win."

Q6.
Which speech interrupted sentence is punctuated correctly?
"I want to win" said Aisha, "but I don't think I will."
"I want to win," said Aisha "but I don't think I will."
Correct answer: "I want to win," said Aisha, "but I don't think I will."