teaching speech ks2

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• Direct Speech And Indirect Speech Resources And Worksheets Ks2

Direct speech and indirect speech – 9 of the best resources and worksheets for KS2 SPaG

Help children know when and how to use speech marks in direct speech, and why not to use them in indirect speech, with these lessons, activities, worksheets and more for Key Stage 2 grammar…

What is direct speech?

Direct speech in writing is where you are writing down a direct quotation of someone’s actual words, and these are marked by inverted commas eg “I’ll meet you at the library tomorrow morning,” Sharon said.

What is indirect speech?

Indirect speech (or reported speech), on the other hand, is where you are given a rough approximation of what someone said, not their exact words, and doesn’t require quotation/speech marks, eg ‘Sharon told them she’d see them in the library tomorrow.’

What are inverted commas?

Inverted commas go before and after direct speech, surrounding what was said.

Direct speech examples

• “I’m tired,” she yawned.
• “What’s that sound?” he asked. “It’s coming from under the floorboards!” Elle replied.
• The police officer shouted, “There they are!”

Indirect speech examples

• Mrs Weismann asked you to go see her in her office.
• My dad told me to clear up my room.
• Jerry said he found the book out in the playground.

1 | Getting speech punctuation right at KS2 guide

Perfectly punctuating dialogue is something that can trip up even experienced editors – but this quick guide should help pupils get it right, from the start.

Read it here.

2 | Punctuating direct speech resource pack

This powerful KS2 grammar resources pack provides everything you need to teach a series of five lessons on punctuating direct speech, culminating in an extended writing task where children can use their grammatical understanding in context.

Get this resource pack here.

3 | Direct speech challenge worksheets

Similarly, this bright, appealing grammar worksheet is an excellent way to practise and revise using direct speech in Year 4.

It is divided into five sections: understand, challenge, test, explain and apply.

Activities include SATs style questions and opportunities for creative writing responses, with eye-catching images as prompts.

Find this one here.

4 | Learn speech conventions through knock, knock jokes worksheet

This resource sheet from Rachel Clarke uses a small-steps approach to slowly scaffold children through the rules and conventions of dialogue. In the first instance pupils are simply asked to rewrite knock, knock jokes in speech bubbles.

Once they’ve got the hang of this, they should then be encouraged to write the name of the speaker and ‘said’ before each speech bubble. The second level asks pupils write each line of the knock, knock joke using inverted commas.

Each example on this sheet starts with the reporting clause before the dialogue, which enables pupils to practise adding a comma after the reporting clause.

Download it here.

5 | Speech marks washing line

This handy idea was created by Clarice Morley, an English teacher in a Pupil Referral Unit, who found her boys were struggling with the use of speech marks.

They invented three characters – male, female and a rabbit – and produced some labels such as “Rory exclaimed” and “Brenda whispered”. Clarice then stretched a washing line across the board, and had two pegs with the speech marks on.

The boys would write something someone would say onto a piece of paper, then they matched one of the labels with one of their speeches, and hung the speech on the washing line.

They soon grasped it is only the reported speech that hangs on the line, and the pegs (speech marks) keep it in place.

Print out the worksheet for this resource here.

6 | How to use inverted commas video guide

For a nice little introduction or recap to inverted commas, watch this video of Mr Thorne take you through their uses.

It’s clearly explained with large captions across the bottom so that children can see his examples written out with the correct punctuation.

7 | Speech mark rules

There are many “rules” of speech marks, but no definitive list, and you don’t want to overwhelm children with too many while they’re just learning.

So this Rising Stars list of five rules is a nice size for children to read and take in.

Check it out here.

8 | Quotation marks worksheet

This two-page worksheet has six tasks and an extension all revolving around punctuating speech.

So it starts with putting speech marks into sentences, then putting speech marks and all other punctuation, before building up to punctuating longer passages.

Print it here.

9 | Inverted commas worksheet set

This resource set has three parts. One is ‘Witch and Tiger Conversation’, which shows ten pictures with blank speech bubbles. Children choose names for the witch and the tiger, then create the contents of the conversation.

Next they re-write this conversation in the form of a story by adding phrases such as ‘said Tom’ and ‘asked Joe’ as well as speech marks and other punctuation.

The second and third parts are ‘Missing Speech Marks’ worksheets, where children need to add speech marks to sentences.

Get all this here.

Browse more  SPaG games .

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4.4a Year 4: using and punctuating direct speech KS2 (speech verbs)

Resource Collection Real Grammar

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This resource is part of our grammar curriculum.

• Covers every objective for years 1-6
• Five-step sequence ensures deep understanding
• Includes asssessment and revision tools

This Real Grammar Key Stage 2 resources pack provides everything that you need to explore speech verbs, also known as reporting verbs, to pupils in Year 4. Pupils will learn how to use synonyms for the word ‘said’ to widen their vocabulary choices when writing direct speech. Teaching slides, worksheets, games and an opportunity to apply the new learning in a writing task are all included to teach how speech verbs are used in direct speech to pupils in Year 4 or to revisit this area of learning.

Inverted commas are first introduced in Year 3 with other speech punctuation introduced in Year 4. Pupils should have a secure understanding how direct speech is punctuated before completing the activities in this resource pack. A Real Grammar resource pack on inverted commas is available in Year 3 and punctuating direct speech in Year 4.

What are speech verbs (reporting verbs)?

A speech verb shows how words are spoken when writing direct speech. The most common speech verb is ‘said’ but there are many more examples. The speech verbs are used in the reporting clause when writing direct speech to show who is speaking.

Examples of speech verbs include said , explained , asked , told , whispered , shouted etc.

What is direct speech?

Direct speech is when the exact words that someone says is written.

• “We are going on an adventure,” said Travis.
• “The choir performed brilliantly at the church,” said Mrs Smith.

What is the reporting clause?

The reporting clause is the short clause that can come before or after the direct speech that states who was talking. It can also show how the speech was said.

• “We are going on an adventure,” announced Travis.
• “The choir performed brilliantly at the church,” beamed Mrs Smith.

What is included in this resource pack?

This pack is divided into five parts:

This section includes PowerPoint teaching slides and teaching notes with an optional script to introduce speech verbs. It can also be used to revisit this aspect of grammar with pupils.

An independent activity for pupils to practise using what they have been taught, allowing teachers to assess understanding.

A series of short, 10-minute activities that can be used following the TEACH session to revisit and rehearse what has been taught. These may be short writing tasks, grammar games or editing/proofreading activities.

A short writing task where pupils can use the grammar skills taught in context to produce independent writing.

Five SATs style test questions, including cloze activities and multiple choice quiz questions, based on the grammar that has been taught.

Teachers can choose which section of the resource pack to use according to their pupils’ needs and could use the activities over a series of lessons or weeks

Teacher notes are provided to show how these quality resources could be used with pupils.

How is this resource pack differentiated?

The PRACTISE and REVISE sections include three activities differentiated for three levels of ability:

• Worksheet 1 for pupils who may need support. Questions will have a lower cognitive domain (what is being asked of pupils) and/or vocabulary used may be simplified where possible.
• Worksheet 2 for pupils working at age related expectations.
• Worksheet 3 for pupils who may need an additional challenge and may be working at a greater depth in this area. Questions will have a higher cognitive domain with more challenging vocabulary.

SUPPORT and CHALLENGE ideas are also included in the teacher notes of each section where relevant, with ideas of how to support pupils working towards the expected standard or at greater depth in this area.

What pupil-facing resources are included?

PPT slides; model text ‘A new home for Pepper’; ‘synonyms for ‘said’’ word mat

Practise 1, Practise 2 and Practise 3 worksheets

Game 1, game 2, game 3

Planning sheet, images

PPT slides; Revise 1, Revise 2 and Revise 3 worksheets

Answer sheets for all worksheets are provided, where appropriate.

This resource is part of the Real Grammar collection. View more from this collection

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Speech writing

A handy planning grid for preparing a speech. Includes useful tips and prompts such as opening with a punchy line, using a tone appropriate for the audience, and finishing with a 'weird or wonderful' fact!

Suitable for KS2.

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A fun idea to teach speech marks

This activity is designed to teach punctuation speech marks and emotion or tone of voice..

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On a recent trip to IKEA to source resources for Positive Eye, I spotted this fun speech bubble which is sold as a notice board. I thought it would make a fun backdrop for teaching speechmarks and secondly it may make a fun resource for working on the emotion conveyed through voice tone. Also speech bubbles are a visual feature of many books, they are an abstract concept.  This bright green speech bubble brings it into the concrete understanding! You could also make a large speech bubble out of thick card.

Here are my ideas for its use.

Speechmark activities

I first stuck some strips of Velcro to the speech bubble to make a base for the activities. 

Suggestion 1:

On the speech bubbles write sentences, e.g. “I love chocolate,” “I really like  watching the ‘Modern Family’ because it is so funny.”  Sentences can be written in braille and print, depending on the needs to the student.

“I hate doing the washing up,” “I don’t want to do my homework.” Place them on the speech bubble base one at a time.

Next: On strips of paper print some different voice tones, e.g. “Say in grumpy voice”, “Say in excited voice”. “Say in enthusiastic voice”.

Child picks a voice tone card and reads the sentence from the speech bubble in that voice! Discussion could follow as to the voice tone that might actually be used to say each sentence, and the likely  facial expression and body language of the person whilst speaking. 

Suggestion 2

There are more ideas for resources at https://www.positiveeye.co.uk/

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Using Speech Marks KS2

Subject: English

Age range: 7-11

Resource type: Lesson (complete)

Last updated

27 May 2023

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Includes: -Editable powerpoint -Detailed lesson plan -Worksheets -Helpful word mats for students

A lesson suitable for 8-11 year olds where children begin by watching the wordless Disney short film ‘La Luna’ (available on YouTube) and create their own dialogue for each scene in speech bubbles. Children will then learn how to write their dialogue in a sentence using direct speech and a reported clause.

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