B. Foundations of Language · Cursive, Spelling and Sentences

Capitals in Titles, Dialogue and Quotations

B3.3 D2.2About 40 minutes

Learning goals

I can capitalize the important words in a title.
I can write dialogue with quotation marks, a capital at the start of the spoken words, and a comma in the right place.
I can put end marks and commas inside the closing quotation marks.
I can quote exact words from a book in my own writing.

Words to know

title
The name of a book, story, poem, song or movie.

dialogue
The words characters say to each other in a story.

quotation marks
Punctuation marks (" ") placed around the exact words someone says or writes.

speaker tag
The words that tell who is talking, like said Mom or Ben asked.

direct quotation
The exact words copied from someone's speech or from a book.

Remember from Grade 2

In Grade 2 you used capital letters for names and places, and quotation marks around the exact words someone says: "Let's go sledding," said Mom.

In Grade 3 you will learn three more jobs:

Capital letters in titles.
Capital letters, commas and quotation marks in dialogue.
Quotation marks for exact words from a book.

1. Capitals in titles

In a title, capitalize:

the first word and the last word, and
all the important words: nouns, verbs, adjectives, pronouns and adverbs.

Short little words stay lowercase unless they are first or last: a, an, the, and, but, or, of, in, on, at, to, for, with.

The Bear Who Loved Maple Syrup
A Day at the Lake
My Trip to Prince Edward Island

Title tip

Different books and teachers sometimes have slightly different title rules. The most important thing is: first word, last word and important words get capitals.

Worked example

Let's capitalize a title

Fix the title: the mystery of the missing mitten

First word: The.
Important words: Mystery, Missing, Mitten.
Little words in the middle stay small: of, the.
Last word mitten is already capitalized as an important word.

The Mystery of the Missing Mitten

In a title, the first word, the last word and the important words get capitals. Little words like of and the stay small in the middle.

2. Writing dialogue

Dialogue is the talking in a story. Here are the rules:

Put quotation marks around the exact words spoken.
Start the spoken words with a capital letter, even in the middle of a sentence.
Use a comma to separate the spoken words from the speaker tag (said Mom).
Put commas, periods, question marks and exclamation marks inside the closing quotation marks.

Three ways to write dialogue. The punctuation always stays inside the closing quotation marks.

Pattern	Example
Speaker first	Mom said, "We are going to the rink."
Speaker last (telling)	"We are going to the rink," said Mom.
Speaker last (question)	"Can I bring my stick?" asked Ben.
Speaker last (exclamation)	"Watch out!" yelled Aisha.

Dialogue patterns

Period becomes a comma

When the spoken words are a telling sentence and the speaker comes after, the period changes to a comma: "We are going," said Mom. But ? and ! stay as they are, and no comma is added: "Are we going?" asked Ben.

New speaker, new line

When a new person starts talking, start a new line (a new paragraph). This helps the reader keep track of who is speaking.

Worked example

Let's punctuate dialogue

Add punctuation and capitals: can we make a snow fort asked Leo

What did Leo say? can we make a snow fort → put quotation marks around it.
Spoken words start with a capital: Can.
It's a question, so add ? inside the closing quotation mark.
The speaker tag asked Leo comes after. No comma is needed after the question mark.

"Can we make a snow fort?" asked Leo.

Worked example

Let's punctuate dialogue with the speaker first

Add punctuation and capitals: grandpa said the geese are flying south

The sentence starts with Grandpa, so it needs a capital: Grandpa.
The speaker comes first: Grandpa said, then a comma.
Open quotation marks. Spoken words start with a capital: The.
End with a period inside the closing quotation marks.

Grandpa said, "The geese are flying south."

Just for fun

Which book would you pick: the bear who loved maple syrup or The Bear Who Loved Maple Syrup? Capital letters make a title stand up tall, like a bear on its back legs!

3. Quoting from a book

Sometimes you want to use the exact words from a book in your writing, like in a book report or a project. Put those words in quotation marks too, and tell where they came from:

In the book, the narrator says, "Beavers can stay underwater for several minutes."

Rules:

Copy the words exactly, with the same spelling and punctuation.
Use the same commas and capital letters as for dialogue.
If you don't use the exact words, but tell the idea in your own words, don't use quotation marks: The book says that beavers can hold their breath for a long time.

Hands-on activity

Comic strip to dialogue

You need: paper, a pencil, crayons, and a comic book or a picture book with speech bubbles.

Draw a 3-box comic of you and someone in your family. Give each person a speech bubble.
Under the comic, rewrite each speech bubble as dialogue with quotation marks, a speaker tag and the right comma or end mark. Use a different pattern each time (speaker first, speaker last, a question).
Give your comic a title. Capitalize it correctly.
Find a favourite sentence in a book. Copy it into your notebook as a quotation: In the book, it says, "..."
Try writing your dialogue in cursive!

Your turn

Capitalize this title: a walk in the woods

Add quotation marks: I love fall, said Priya.

Add punctuation: Dad asked where are my keys

Fix the capital: Mom said, "time for bed."

Where does the comma go? "Let's play outside" said Jonah.

Does this need quotation marks? Ava said that she was cold.

More practice: warm-up

Capitalize this title: the snowy owl

Which words in a title usually stay small (if they're not first or last)?

What do quotation marks show?

Where does the question mark go? "Is it snowing ?" asked Lin.

Who is speaking? "I found it!" shouted Omar.

More practice: on your own

Capitalize this title: how the squirrel found the acorns

Punctuate: we won the game cheered the team

Punctuate with the speaker first: Ms. Lee said please line up at the door

Fix it: "Can I have a turn," asked Ella?

Write a sentence that quotes this line from a book: Maple trees turn red and orange in the fall.

Challenge

Rewrite as two lines of dialogue, starting a new line for the new speaker: Can you help me shovel asked Dad sure said Noor.

Fix all the mistakes in this title and sentence: my favourite book is the lost canoe. the girl in it says "i can do this."

Explain the difference: Sam said, "I'm tired." and Sam said that he was tired.

Check your understanding

Quiz

Which title is capitalized correctly?

Which is punctuated correctly?

Which is correct?

Which sentence needs quotation marks?

When a new person starts talking in a story, you should...

Which correctly quotes a book?

For parents and teachers

Big idea: Grade 3 students use capital letters in dialogue and for words in titles, and commas and quotation marks to mark direct speech and direct quotations from texts (B3.3). Quoting from a book is an early research skill. Children can practise their new cursive (D2.2) when copying dialogue.

How to help at home:

Turn comics into dialogue on paper together.
When reading, stop at dialogue and look at where the commas and quotation marks are.
When your child writes about a book, encourage one exact quotation.

Common difficulties:

Punctuation outside the quotation marks ("Hi", said Jo). In Canadian and American usage, commas and periods go inside.
No capital at the start of spoken words.
Quotation marks around reported speech (She said that "she was cold."). Only exact words get quotation marks.
Title rules: style guides differ on some small words (e.g. with or from). Accept any consistent approach that capitalizes first, last and important words.