Look Who’s Talking!

“Hey, cowgirl.”… “You and me got thome bithneth to thettle, Eberhardt.” Who said this? How do you know?

As soon as the bus started moving, Dana again grabbed for Roy, who calmly slapped his arm away. Dana Rocked back, staring at him in disbelief. “Didn’t you even read the letter?” Roy asked. “Everything will be cool as long as you leave me alone.” “Did you jutht hit me? Did you hit my arm?” “So sue me,” Roy said. Dana’s eyes widened. “What did you thay?” “I thay you need to get your hearing checked, partner, along with your I.Q.” Roy wasn’t sure what possessed him to wise off to such a violent kid. He didn’t particularly enjoy getting roughed up, but the alternative was to cower and beg, which he couldn’t lower himself to do. Every time the Eberhardts moved from one town to another, Roy encountered a whole set of bullies and goons. He considered himself an expert on the breed. If he stood his ground, they usually backed down or looked for someone else to hassle. Insulting them, however, could be risky. Roy noticed a couple of Dana’s meathead pals, watching the scene from the back of the bus. That meant Dana would feel obligated to demonstrate what tough hombre he was. “Hit me,” said Roy. “What?” “Go ahead. Get it out of your system.” “You’re a nut cathe, Everhardt.” “And you’re as dumb as a bucket of mud, Matherson.” That one did the trick. Dana lunged across the seat and whacked Roy on the side of the head.

Calvin and Hobbes 1. Read your comic from “Calvin and Hobbes”. 2. After you have read the cartoon, you need to rewrite it in dialogue format. (You will need to use speech tags instead of thought bubbles.) 3. “Said is Dead!”—what other words can use instead of “said”? 4. You must make sure that you use correct punctuation. 5. What else will help the reader picture the scene ?

Sample Calvin and Hobbes were walking down the street. Calvin, as usual, was thinking the big questions. He asked his trusty friend, “If you could wish for anything, what would it be?” Hobbes, a striped cat, thought quickly and answered, “A big sunny field to be in!” Calvin did not like this response! He shouted at the cat, “A stupid field? You’ve got that now! Think big! Riches! Power! Pretend you could have ANYTHING!” Unfortunately, Hobbes was already dreaming of rolling in a sunny and grassy field. When Calvin sees this, he thinks to himself, “Actually, it’s hard to argue with someone who looks so happy!

Share your work! Fold the cartoon over so that you cannot see it. Have a partner read your dialogue. If they can explain to you exactly what is going on based on your words, then you have successfully mastered writing a conversation. Discuss with your partner the revisions needed to paint a picture for your reader?

Language Arts Reflection Choose one of the following to reflect in your journal.  Today I learned that …  I was successful in …  I got stuck …  I figured out …  I got confused about …  I was wondering about …  In class this week _____________ was interesting because ______________.  I really understood ____________________ because _______________.  I can make a connection to another class …  I can’t wait to go home and share with my family …  AHA !!!!...  A connection I can make to real life is …  A question I have is …  Talking about _______________________ in LA today made me think about …  A new word or concept I learned today was …  After studying about _____________________ in LA today, I want to learn more about …  I think I need to change …  I feel really good about the way …  A missed opportunity today was …  If I could do something over today, I would …  I rocked LA today because I …  Ms. West didn’t notice that I …