Bell ringers help students settle in and focus on a new task, while also allowing their teachers time to take care of any administrative or individualized learning check-ins with students.
From individual wordplay to fostering whole group discussion, use these ideas to help students warm up for learning.
As you get start with bell ringers, it is helpful to model the process with the whole class. If you have an interactive board, project a magnet poem for the entire class to complete.
If you are beginning to explore graphs, you can use a tally mark survey or graph to collect data. For example:
Assign a Sudoku puzzle to engage students' brains and focus their mental energy.
Or, have students get started with Four Fours to practice finishing equations using the correct mathematical symbols. A fun challenge for number sense and operations!
The curriculum library has an entire folder of Word Play templates with key academic vocabulary ranging from second to fifth grade. These multi-page activities ask students to "make words" by creating three-, four-, and five-letter words from the letters in the academic vocabulary term.
This type of activity is great for students who finish assigned work early.
If your goal is to get your students to write every day, you can't beat a bell-ringer writing prompt. Have students start with one of the many Story Starters to inspire narrative writing.
The Background Picture option also makes it easy to create and assign your own custom writing prompts.
A thought-provoking image, album cover with a hyperlink to a current song, or powerful "quote" are authentic ways to engage intermediate and middle-grade learners.
Bell ringers can be great for exploring new topics, allowing students a little extra time to work on projects they have started and as formative assessments.
You can always create what you need in Wixie or use the search bar to search the curriculum library using keywords for topics like:
As students get used to bell ringers, they will come to not only expect them, but depend upon them for settling in and getting the class or day started on a focused and positive note.