Pennington Publishing Blog

Question Marks with Dialogue and Quotations   

Question Marks in Dialogue and Quotations

Play the quick video lesson HERE and click the upper left back arrow to return to this lesson.            

Common Core Language Standard 2

The question mark usually is one of the easiest punctuation marks to use properly–unless the question mark is used with quotations. Then, things get a bit trickier. Do we place the question mark inside or outside of the quotation marks?

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson and study the examples.

Place a question mark inside (to the left of) ending quotation marks (?”) when you, the writer, are quoting a question that was asked. Example: He asked, “Are you going, too?”

Place a question mark outside (to the right of) ending quotation marks (”?) when you, the writer, ask a question about a quotation. Example: Why did he say, “That’s not funny”?

Now circle or highlight what is right and revise what is wrong according to mechanics lesson.

Practice: Did she say, “I didn’t do it”? Or did she ask “Who did it”?

Let’s check the Practice Answers.

Mechanics Practice Answers: Did she say, “I didn’t do it”? Or did she ask “Who did it?”

Now let’s apply what we have learned. 

Writing Application: Write two or your own sentences: the first one with a quote of a make-believe question that was asked and the second one with a question that you ask about a make-believe quotation.

This writing opener is part of a comprehensive language conventions lesson from the Grammar, Mechanics, Spelling, and Vocabulary   Grades 4‒8 programs.

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Pennington Publishing Grammar Programs

Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics (Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and High School) are full-year, traditional, grade-level grammar, usage, and mechanics programs with plenty of remedial practice to help students catch up while they keep up with grade-level standards. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep lessons in print or interactive Google slides with a fun secret agent theme. Simple sentence diagrams, mentor texts, video lessons, sentence dictations. Plenty of practice in the writing context. Includes biweekly tests and a final exam.

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Interactive Notebook (Grades 4‒8) is a full-year, no prep interactive notebook without all the mess. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep grammar, usage, and mechanics lessons, formatted in Cornell Notes with cartoon response, writing application, 3D graphic organizers (easy cut and paste foldables), and great resource links. No need to create a teacher INB for student make-up work—it’s done for you! Plus, get remedial worksheets, biweekly tests, and a final exam.

Syntax in Reading and Writing is a function-based, sentence level syntax program, designed to build reading comprehension and increase writing sophistication. The 18 parts of speech, phrases, and clauses lessons are each leveled from basic (elementary) to advanced (middle and high school) and feature 5 lesson components (10–15 minutes each): 1. Learn It!  2. Identify It!  3. Explain It! (analysis of challenging sentences) 4. Revise It! (kernel sentences, sentence expansion, syntactic manipulation) 5. Create It! (Short writing application with the syntactic focus in different genre).

Get the Diagnostic Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Assessments, Matrix, and Final Exam FREE Resource:

Grammar/Mechanics, Writing direct quotations, grammar books, Grammar Lessons, grammar programs, grammar teaching resources, Language Conventions Lessons, Mark Pennington, mechanics, pennington publishing, question marks, question marks quotations, quotations, teaching resources, Teaching the Language Strand, writing openers

Punctuation of Indirect Quotations

Punctuation of Indirect Quotations                   

Play the quick video lesson HERE and click the upper left back arrow to return to this lesson.

Common Core Language Standard 2

When students begin writing reports of information or summaries in elementary school, the often used teacher direction is “Put it in your own words.” Now paraphrasing and summarizing are useful skills; however, putting someone else’s idea into your own words does not make it your own idea. The writer must faithfully represent what the idea actually is and then credit the originator of the idea with a proper citation.

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson and study the examples.

An indirect quotation reports someone else’s words without quoting each word. Indirect quotations still require proper citations, but not quotation marks. A citation is the name of the source (the author’s last name or title, if no author is listed) and the page number of the print material where the author’s words are found. Example: Cheetahs are the fastest animals (Lee 5).

Now circle or highlight what is right and revise what is wrong according to mechanics lesson.

Practice: Tommy asked, “May I have some?” “Did he have to ask that question?” “Wow!”

Let’s check the Practice Answers.

Mechanics Practice Answers: Tommy asked, “May I have some?” “Did he have to ask that question”?“Wow!”

Now let’s apply what we have learned.

Writing Application: Write your own sentence using an indirect quotation.

*****

Pennington Publishing Grammar Programs

Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics (Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and High School) are full-year, traditional, grade-level grammar, usage, and mechanics programs with plenty of remedial practice to help students catch up while they keep up with grade-level standards. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep lessons in print or interactive Google slides with a fun secret agent theme. Simple sentence diagrams, mentor texts, video lessons, sentence dictations. Plenty of practice in the writing context. Includes biweekly tests and a final exam.

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Interactive Notebook (Grades 4‒8) is a full-year, no prep interactive notebook without all the mess. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep grammar, usage, and mechanics lessons, formatted in Cornell Notes with cartoon response, writing application, 3D graphic organizers (easy cut and paste foldables), and great resource links. No need to create a teacher INB for student make-up work—it’s done for you! Plus, get remedial worksheets, biweekly tests, and a final exam.

Syntax in Reading and Writing is a function-based, sentence level syntax program, designed to build reading comprehension and increase writing sophistication. The 18 parts of speech, phrases, and clauses lessons are each leveled from basic (elementary) to advanced (middle and high school) and feature 5 lesson components (10–15 minutes each): 1. Learn It!  2. Identify It!  3. Explain It! (analysis of challenging sentences) 4. Revise It! (kernel sentences, sentence expansion, syntactic manipulation) 5. Create It! (Short writing application with the syntactic focus in different genre).

Get the Diagnostic Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Assessments, Matrix, and Final Exam FREE Resource:

Grammar/Mechanics, Writing direct quotations, grammar books, Grammar Lessons, grammar programs, grammar rules, grammar teaching resources, indirect quotations, Language Conventions, Mark Pennington, mechanics, pennington publishing, punctuation, punctuation rules, quotations, teaching resources, Teaching the Language Strand, writing openers

Punctuation of Direct Quotations                                                        

Common Core Language Standard 2

Most of us have heard often how we need to faithfully quote the words of an author when using them in our own writing. However, few of us have heard that it’s not just the words which must be faithfully quoted; it’s also the punctuation. If we fail to use proper punctuation in this quotation, the whole meaning changes: “Let’s eat, Grandma” and “Let’s eat Grandma” (Author unknown) are certainly different meanings entirely.

Today’s grammar and usage lesson is on pronoun antecedents. Remember that a pronoun takes the place of a noun and identifies its antecedent. An antecedent is the noun or pronoun that the pronoun refers to or re-names.

Now let’s read the mechanics lesson and study the examples.

Direct quotations must include original capitalization and punctuation. Periods and commas go inside the closing quotation marks. Question marks and exclamation points go inside the quotation marks, if part of the quoted sentence, but outside, if not. Colons and semicolons go outside the closing quotation marks. Example: Beth said, “The case is closed. Isn’t it?”

Both parts of a divided quotation are enclosed in quotation marks. The first word of the

second part is not capitalized unless it begins a new sentence. Example: “This book,” my mother said, “is wonderful.” When quoting an author or speaker, the first word of a complete sentence must be capitalized, even if it is in the middle of a sentence. Example: Ray did say, “We saw it.”

Now circle or highlight what is right and revise what is wrong according to mechanics lesson.

Practice: My coach whispered, “This game is over.” He continued, “Before it has even started.”

Let’s check the Practice Answers.

Mechanics Practice Answers: My coach whispered, “This game is over.” He continued, “before it has even started.”

Now let’s apply what we have learned.

Writing Application: Write two of your own direct quotation sentences: one ending in a period and one ending in a question mark.

*****

Pennington Publishing Grammar Programs

Teaching Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics (Grades 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, and High School) are full-year, traditional, grade-level grammar, usage, and mechanics programs with plenty of remedial practice to help students catch up while they keep up with grade-level standards. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep lessons in print or interactive Google slides with a fun secret agent theme. Simple sentence diagrams, mentor texts, video lessons, sentence dictations. Plenty of practice in the writing context. Includes biweekly tests and a final exam.

Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Interactive Notebook (Grades 4‒8) is a full-year, no prep interactive notebook without all the mess. Twice-per-week, 30-minute, no prep grammar, usage, and mechanics lessons, formatted in Cornell Notes with cartoon response, writing application, 3D graphic organizers (easy cut and paste foldables), and great resource links. No need to create a teacher INB for student make-up work—it’s done for you! Plus, get remedial worksheets, biweekly tests, and a final exam.

Syntax in Reading and Writing is a function-based, sentence-level syntax program, designed to build reading comprehension and increase writing sophistication. The 18 parts of speech, phrases, and clauses lessons are each leveled from basic (elementary) to advanced (middle and high school) and feature 5 lesson components (10–15 minutes each): 1. Learn It!  2. Identify It!  3. Explain It! (analysis of challenging sentences) 4. Revise It! (kernel sentences, sentence expansion, syntactic manipulation) 5. Create It! (Short writing application with the syntactic focus in different genre).

Get the Diagnostic Grammar, Usage, and Mechanics Assessments, Matrix, and Final Exam FREE Resource:

Grammar/Mechanics, Writing direct quotations, grammar books, Grammar Lessons, grammar programs, grammar rules, grammar teaching resources, indirect quotations, Language Conventions, Mark Pennington, mechanics, pennington publishing, punctuation rules, quotations, teaching resources, Teaching the Language Strand, writing openers