You already know when a conversation is real. Someone says "I'm grand" and you hear they are not. Someone changes the subject and you know exactly what they are avoiding.
Today you learn how that lands on the page: tags, punctuation, voice, and the difference between naming a feeling and letting the line show it. Then you draft a 12 to 15 line exchange between two characters from our class anchor text at a moment when something is under pressure.
This draft starts your M1 KA3 evidence. Your teacher will not sign it off today. Next lesson finishes the pair or group piece and the contribution note that counts it toward KA3.
Dialogue that works sounds like a particular person, not a generic speaker. Four tools do most of the work:
| Term | What it means for you | Real example |
|---|---|---|
| Dialogue tag: the short phrase that shows who spoke | Use said most of the time; save stronger verbs for when the how matters | "Leave it," she said. |
| Show don't tell: reveal feeling through action or line, not labels | Cut "angrily" and show the slammed cup instead | Sarah kept folding the same jumper. |
| Voice: how this person sounds, not how anyone sounds | Ask: would this character use that word? | Three-word answers vs someone who fills every silence |
| Dialogue punctuation: speech marks, a comma before the tag, new line per speaker | Keeps two voices readable at speed | "Leave it," she said. "Make me," he said. |
Same moment, two versions. Version A names everything. Version B lets the reader work.
Version A: "I am very upset with you right now," said Tom angrily. "Why are you upset with me?" asked Sarah curiously. "Because you told everyone my secret," said Tom sadly.
Version B: "Everyone knows." Sarah kept folding the same jumper. "Knows what?" "You know what." "I was trying to help." He laughed once, no humour in it. "Brilliant."
Draft a 12 to 15 line exchange in the script tool between two characters from our class anchor text. Pick them from the character list on the board or in your Portfolio. If you have no anchor text yet, use two made-up students at a locker after a rumour spreads. Set the exchange at a moment when something is under pressure. Rename the speakers. Keep each voice distinct. Add a direction only when the way a line is said changes the meaning. Do not name the feeling if the line or action can carry it.
When you finish, copy the script into your Communication Portfolio as m1_l17_dialogue_draft_<your-initials>. The script tool does not save your lines, so do this before you move on. Then fill in the one line under Enter Your Work so your teacher can see it is saved.
Quick reminder: Version A named every feeling in the tags. Version B let the jumper-folding and the humourless laugh do the work.
Open your own draft. Find one line that still labels a feeling, flattens a voice, or could show more through action. The script tool is for trying. Your note for next lesson goes in the three boxes under Enter Your Work: the line as it stands, what is weak, and the rewrite. Copy that same note into your Communication Portfolio as m1_l17_one_change_<your-initials> so it is ready beside your draft next lesson.
Talk this through with the person beside you, or sit with it for a minute:
The longer thinking belongs in your Reflective Journal when you next open it.
You're previewing this lesson. Get full access to this lesson and hundreds more — each one ready to teach, with interactive activities, printable resources and pupil progress tracking built in.