Sixth Grade · Writing · week 23

Dialogue and What a Character Is Thinking

Format dialogue correctly and add interiority to reveal a character's private thoughts and feelings.

Dialogue needs two mechanical rules: quotation marks around exactly what is said, and a new paragraph every time the speaker changes. Getting this right keeps a reader from ever losing track of who is talking.

Interiority is a character's private thoughts and feelings -- the part no one else in the story can hear. Adding a line of interiority next to dialogue lets a reader know what a character is really thinking, even when they say something different out loud.

📋 For the teacher
Teach it (10–15 min):
  • Read a passage of dialogue aloud together and check that a new paragraph appears every time the speaker changes.
  • Ask "what is your character NOT saying out loud right now?" -- that answer often becomes the interiority line.
  • The most interesting interiority often contradicts or complicates the spoken words, rather than just restating them.
  • Fix dialogue punctuation errors together on the page rather than just naming the rule -- seeing the fix helps it stick.
Talk about it:
  • What are the two formatting rules for dialogue?
  • Where did you add interiority, and what does it reveal that the dialogue alone does not?
  • Does your character's private thought ever disagree with what they say out loud?

Mastery looks like: They format dialogue correctly (quotation marks, new paragraph per speaker) and add interiority that reveals a character's private thoughts.

Common stumbles: Running multiple speakers together in one paragraph; writing interiority that just restates the dialogue instead of adding a private, possibly contradicting thought.

See it visually

Interactive, spoken-aloud tools that show this idea in motion.

Story MapChart characters, setting, problem, and solution.try →
Homework for this lessonType it, write it with a stylus, or print it for pencil & paper.open →
Records attendance + 15 min of Writing for this learner.
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