Punctuation and Grammar High School Mechanics Daily Lessons + Life SKills DOL

Daily Oral Language, DOL, BUNDLE, Life Skills, Secondary Grammar and Mechanics Exercises, Social-Emotional Learning, Inspirational Daily Writing Warm-Ups or Bell-Ringers for Middle and High School Students

120 INSPIRATIONAL DOL PARAGRAPHS: See Preview

INCLUDES TEACHER KEY

Writing Warm-Ups for SIX Full Months!

Aligned with ELA Common Core Standards Grades 9-12

This mega bundle includes DOL BUNDLE # 1 and #2. Sold separately in my shop, these retail for 19.99 each. Buy here and save $5!

Within this DOL bundle, you will receive 120 full paragraphs along with a teacher key. The paragraphs are based on several well-known, highly-engaging texts including Napoleon Hill’s book Think and Grow Rich, Shawn Achor’s NY Times best-selling book The Happiness Advantage, David Schwartz’s beloved book The Magic of Thinking Big, and Jay McGraw's Life Strategies for Teens.

*It is NOT necessary for students to have read any of these texts.

PROVIDED IN PDF FORMAT WITH ADDITIONAL LINKS TO THE EDITABLE GOOGLE DOCS

Prefer to purchase these resources separately?

Find DOL BUNDLE #1 in my store HERE

Find DOL Bundle #2 in my store https://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Product/Daily-Oral-Language-Grades-9-12-Grammar-Mechanics-Life-Skills-High-School-8437930

Daily warm-ups provide structure and predictability for students, which helps tremendously with behavior management. The first few minutes of class sets the tone for the remainder of the period, so having a meaningful daily activity to begin class sets the stage for success. 

I use DOL as a daily bell-ringer activity (i.e. the first activity of the day). This creates structure and predictability at the start of every class period, as students know exactly what they should be doing the second they sit down in their seats. While students independently work on DOL for 2-3 minutes, I can take attendance peacefully….It’s beautiful.

Throughout my 13 years in the secondary classroom, I found that most students—even the best writers—need DIRECT DAILY INSTRUCTION with grammar and mechanics. Using these DOL paragraphs as part of your daily routine is a quick way to explicitly address this skill set that young writers so desperately need! Moreover, because each paragraph is related to personal development, you’ll simultaneously be addressing the social-emotional domain, which will keep your students interested and inspired. 

WHY Daily DOL?

We learn through repetition, and daily DOL warm-ups will significantly improve your students’ writing skills! Students rarely receive explicit instruction with grammar and mechanics beyond elementary school, and as secondary teachers we often think they don’t need it, or we simply don’t have the time to address it in isolation. However, you’ll find these daily mini-lessons to be quick and—most importantly—effective! 

In addition to strengthening your students’ writing skills, these daily mini-lessons allow you to address the social-emotional domain. Regardless of the subjects we teach, we all want our students to be socially and emotionally healthy, but we don’t all have the resources or time to teach SEL in isolation. These paragraphs are intended to inspire students and support their metacognitive growth.

Looking for another SEL resource? My book Birdseed: A Guide to Teaching Emotional Intelligence in the Primary & Secondary Classroom has been endorsed by the MTSS Coordinator for The Colorado Department of Education and by NY Times bestselling author and positive psychology guru Shawn Achor (author of The Happiness Advantage and Before Happiness). Birdseed is another daily writing warm-up activity that supports emotional intelligence, and the paperback is available on Amazon HERE , or the ebook is available as a FREE download on my website HERE.

PRE-ASSESSMENT:
Sometimes (because they are a bit embarrassed to admit they need this instruction in high school) students initially object to this daily exercise. They might say it’s too remedial for them and insist they “already know this stuff.” Therefore, to justify doing it as a warm-up every day, and to nip the complaining in the bud, I have students complete the first paragraph independently as a pre-assessment. I tell them, “If you don’t need this instruction, show me you don't need it, and we can skip it in the future.”

Then I collect them, grade these first paragraphs on my own (I use a quick 1-4 grading scale), record the grades so I can measure growth throughout the semester/year, and return them to students. I have NEVER, in my 13 years of teaching high school, found that students don’t need this daily direct instruction. Upon receiving their graded initial assessments and seeing for themselves how much they need to learn, they will never argue again about doing the daily warm-up.

Ongoing Assessments: I use every Friday’s DOL as a quiz, and then record those grades so I can monitor growth. On the Monday following the quiz, we review correct answers together. These grades could be considered formative or summative, depending on your grading model. You might consider allowing students to review past DOL exercises or notes during the quizzes.