Quotation Marks
Lesson plans and teaching resources

This lesson plan reviews the basic conventions for using quotations from works of literature or references from a research project, focusing on accurate punctuation and page layout. Students first discuss general proofreading strategies and the importance of checking quotations in their written work. They examine several passages and draw conclusions about the use of punctuation marks, including when various types of punctuation (comma, period, semicolons, colons, question marks, and exclamation points) go inside or outside quotation marks or after parenthetical citations. Students mark all the ending quotation marks on example passages and then check for correct punctuation, identifying which rules were used. Students are then asked to use this proofreading strategy on their own papers.

This lesson from the Smithsonian Museum combines practice in writing dialogue with history and creative writing. It includes a forum for sharing exemplary student work.

This activity challenges students to punctuate the same "Dear John" letter to produce 2 different meanings.

This lesson is designed as an introduction to quotation marks in dialogue. It is designed for 4th graders.

In this lesson 3rd and 4th graders glue elbow macaroni in sentences to indicate the location of commas and quotation marks in dialogue.

Students will examine some Tom Swiftie puns, paying special attention to their dialogue punctuation.

The exercise at this site offers a dozen sentences for students to punctuate. Follow the link for the answers. Designed for high school and older.

Examples of how students should quote from a poem using William Stafford's "Fifteen." Students practice using Sylvia Plath's "Mirror."

Students convert speech from bubbles to written sentences. This activity is designed for grades 1-3.