Some specific language arts skills just need to be taught individually! While it’s true that lots of language skills can be taught by incorporating them into larger lessons such as a novel study or a writing assignment some very specific skills just need to be taught in a separate lesson.

Skills such as the following one are just not topics that middle-grade kids will be thinking about on their own! And examples may not show up often enough in their own writing at this age to provide the practice that they need to become proficient.

• Use punctuation (commas, parentheses, dashes) to set off nonrestrictive/parenthetical elements. (L6.2a in the Common Core Standards)

To teach rules like these, we need specific information (notes) for the kids plus practice activities that specifically target the skill.

Here I’ll show you my note sheet for this topic. As you can see, it explains what these commas, parentheses, and dashes are used for, talks in more detail about each punctuation mark individually, and lists tips for using them correctly in students’ writing.

My first activity sheet, Chart and Add, gives students a visual fill-in chart and a passage that includes a number of nonrestrictive phrases with spaces for students to add in the appropriate punctuation marks.

The second activity sheet, Choose and Revise, includes a multiple choice assignment and sentences for students to revise by adding phrases with additional details along with the appropriate punctuation to separate their phrases from the rest of the sentence.

The third one, Write and Proofread, has pictures for students to write about, including nonrestrictive elements with appropriate punctuation, plus a passage for students to proofread.

As students work on these activities, they can refer back to their note sheet as needed – so that they will be learning the material as they go, not simply guessing at answers.

You might want to choose among the activities based on individual abilities or have your student progress through all three depending on your classroom situation.

You can find this little set here – Commas, Parentheses, and Dashes for Nonrestrictive Elements – Notes and Practice – in my TPT store.