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Year 5

Editing the speech section of ‘The Highwayman’

I can edit the speech section of my narrative writing.

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Year 5

Editing the speech section of ‘The Highwayman’

I can edit the speech section of my narrative writing.

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Share activities with pupils
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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. The purpose of an editing lesson is to improve your writing and make necessary corrections.
  2. Vocabulary, grammar and punctuation can be changed to make writing more effectively meet its purpose.
  3. Specific rules of how to punctuate speech first and speech second sentences must be checked during the editing process.

Keywords

  • Editing - the process of improving writing to improve text flow and overall quality

  • Speech punctuation - a set of standardised symbols and marks used to punctuate direct speech sentences

  • Sentence structure - the way that words are arranged within sentences to convey meaning

  • Vocabulary - the language choices made by a writer

Common misconception

Pupils may have incorrectly structured clauses or adverbial detail within speech sentences.

Repeatedly remind pupils which is the direct speech part of a speech sentence and which is the reporting clause part of a speech sentence. Knowing where the reporting clause is will help eliminate mistakes within it.

Have speech first and speech second scaffolds (like those featured in the lesson slides) printed for pupils to refer to when editing.
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Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2025), licensed on

Open Government Licence version 3.0
except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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Starter quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the terms to their definitions:
Correct Answer:direct speech,the term used for a person speaking out loud in a text
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the term used for a person speaking out loud in a text

Correct Answer:speech first,includes direct speech before the reporting clause
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includes direct speech before the reporting clause

Correct Answer:speech second,includes direct speech after the reporting clause
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includes direct speech after the reporting clause

Correct Answer:reporting clause,tells the reader who said the speech and how
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tells the reader who said the speech and how

Q2.
Match the terms to their definitions:
Correct Answer:punctuation,a set of standardised symbols and marks to structure sentences
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a set of standardised symbols and marks to structure sentences

Correct Answer:vocabulary,language choices made by a writer
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language choices made by a writer

Correct Answer:sentence structure,how words are arranged within sentences to convey meaning
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how words are arranged within sentences to convey meaning

Q3.
Match the subordinate clause types to their examples:
Correct Answer:adverbial subordinate,as her lip trembled
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as her lip trembled

Correct Answer:non-finite subordinate,grabbing his horse's reins
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grabbing his horse's reins

Correct Answer:relative subordinate,who gazed adoringly at her love
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who gazed adoringly at her love

Q4.
Match the fronted adverbial types to their examples:
Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of time,After a few seconds,
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After a few seconds,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of place,In the darkness,
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In the darkness,

Correct Answer:fronted adverbial of manner,Quietly,
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Quietly,

Q5.
Which of these are rules for how to punctuate direct speech?
Always include an adjective in the direct speech.
Correct answer: Start a new line for a new speaker if there is a dialogue.
Correct answer: Use inverted commas to indicate direct speech.
Correct answer: Use a capital letter at the start of any direct speech.
Q6.
Who is speaking in this section of our narrative build-up?
the landlord
Correct answer: Bess
Tim
Correct answer: the Highwayman

Exit quiz

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6 Questions

Q1.
Match the keywords to their definitions:
Correct Answer:editing,the process of improving writing to improve text flow and quality
tick

the process of improving writing to improve text flow and quality

Correct Answer:speech punctuation,a set of symbols used to punctuate direct speech sentences
tick

a set of symbols used to punctuate direct speech sentences

Correct Answer:sentence structure,how words are arranged within sentences to convey meaning
tick

how words are arranged within sentences to convey meaning

Correct Answer:vocabulary,the language choices made by a writer
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the language choices made by a writer

Q2.
Which of these is the term for words spoken out loud by a character?
Correct answer: direct speech
commas
adverbial detail
show-not-tell
Q3.
Which of these are part of the editing process?
Correct answer: selecting which parts of the writing to improve
rewriting the whole piece
only correcting mistakes
Correct answer: making edits to punctuation, grammar and sentence structure
Q4.
Which of these has the correct punctuation for a speech second sentence?
The Highwayman uttered with a look of passion "See you soon my love!"
The Highwayman uttered with a look of passion, "see you soon my love"
Correct answer: The Highwayman uttered with a look of passion, "See you soon my love!"
Q5.
Select the fronted adverbials from the list:
as the wind whistled
Correct answer: With a sigh,
frowning in disappointment
Correct answer: Softly,
with dismay
Q6.
Is this statement true or false? We should always start a new line for a new speaker in a dialogue.
Correct Answer: true, True, troo, treu