Are your high school students tired of traditional grammar and mechanics exercises? Are you a teacher or homeschooling parent tired of watching your students struggle with punctuation and word usage? This simple-to-use and inspirational writing resource is student-tested and teacher-approved! The grammar and punctuation exercises included in this resource seamlessly integrate social-emotional learning with writing instruction, and the results speak for themselves. Teachers around the globe are raving about finally finding an effective and engaging daily mini-lesson that teaches the rules of writing in a way students understand and enjoy!

Prefer the Paperback Version of this Resource? Click HERE to be Directed to Amazon 

60 short Daily Oral Language (DOL) Paragraphs + Teacher Key + Clause Handout:
These 60 short paragraphs align with the personal development principles addressed in Jay McGraw's book Life Strategies for Teens, on which I have based a life skills unit found HERE, but this resource can be used in isolation. There is no need for students to have read McGraw's text. 

More About This Resource: 

• Bundle #1 of Series
• Homeschool ELA or High School ELA Writing Resource
• Answer Key Included
• Aligned with ELA CCSS Grades 9-12
• 60 Engaging and Effective Exercises to Teach Grammar and Mechanics
• Support Social-Emotional Learning While Strengthening Writing Skills
• Appropriate for Tier One, Tier Two, or Tier Three Writing Intervention
• Teacher-Designed and Student-Tested
• Easy-to-Implement Daily Mini-Lessons
• 5-8 Minute Daily DOL Exercise and Bell-Ringer
• Empower Students to Excel Emotionally and Academically
• Save Yourself Countless Hours of Planning Time
• 8.5" x 11"

This 12 week writing resource will change the way you and your students think about grammar and punctation instruction. As a high school and Special Education teacher with fourteen years of experience in the secondary classroom, I'm well-versed in the woes of wading through poorly written assignments. I learned early in my career that high school students need direct daily instruction in grammar and mechanics. High school teachers often make the mistake of thinking students will learn the rules of writing within the context of their everyday reading and writing assignments, but this simply never happens. The five minute exercises shared within this book explicitly teach students how to use grammar and punctuation correctly. Embedded within the exercises are concepts rooted in positive psychology that foster metacognition and personal growth, and this is something students recognize and appreciate. By the end of twelve weeks, you will see a significant improvement in your students' writing as well as their behavior.


Each DOL paragraph has NO punctuation whatsoever, and the assignment is to add it where appropriate and correct incorrectly used grammar. 

I have students work independently on a single DOL paragraph to begin every class period (bell-ringer activity). After they have corrected each paragraph on their own, I project this document onto the whiteboard and correct it with them. I ask students to use a colored marker to make their corrections as I walk them through the sentences so I can quickly glance at their papers and see how they’re doing with and without my help. 

I have also included my “What the heck is a clause?” handout here as well, which I use as a review prior to starting the DOL practice. 

IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN TEACHING A LIFE SKILLS OR SEL UNIT, CHECK OUT MY LIFE STRATEGIES BUNDLE HERE BEFORE YOU PURCHASE THIS, AS THIS CURRICULUM IS INCLUDED IN THAT BUNDLE. I used to teach The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens, and my students genuinely gained skills from Covey's text. After 8 + years of teaching The 7 Habits, I started using Jay McGraw's text: Life Strategies for Teens.

I have found that while Covey and McGraw's texts are both great, and are in fact very similar, Life Strategies for Teens is more accessible for youth, particularly at-risk youth. It uses more teen-friendly language, and the author talks more candidly and uses more real life examples as he talks about the ten life strategies.

My students say they like how McGraw "talks turkey." They also connect to this text better than they do with The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Teens because they are usually familiar with Dr. Phil from his popular TV show. I explain that the book is written by Dr. Phil's college-age son Jay, and this grabs their attention. 

Take your writing instruction to the next level while fostering academic excellence and personal growth.

KEYWORDS: teaching grammar and mechanics in high school and middle school grammar exercises, teaching conventions in high school punctuation lessons, grammar lessons, punctuation lesson, grammar handouts, bell-ringer, warm-up activity, daily warm up, daily bellringer,