

Use bell ringers to activate prior knowledge. Friday Freewrite Fridays and Fix-It Friday (Everyone could use a grammar review).Thursday: Think About It Thursday or Thought Provoking Thursday (These are great springboards for classroom discussions).Wednesday: Word-work Wednesday or Real-World Wednesday (perfect for making real-world connections!) Tuesday: Tuesday Terms or Turn-and-Talk Tuesday (bell ringers don’t always have to be independent).Monday: Mistake-Fixing Mondays or Mix-It-Up Monday (If you want wiggle room to switch it up!).Here are a few ideas for my fellow fans of alliteration: Each theme can address a specific skill or type of bell ringer activity. While variety is key, you can make planning easy by having themed bell ringers for each day of the week. Besides, there are plenty of options to choose from! You don’t want to return to start-of-class chaos due to bored students and over-used bell ringers. While structure and consistency help students succeed, having the same bell ringer again and again can totally backfire. Here are a few tips to help you implement bell ringers with success:Ĭhange it up. The possibilities are endless when it comes to bell ringers. More Tips for Implementing Bell Ringers with Success Buy yourself time while knowing your students are engaging in a meaningful activity: What teacher wouldn’t love the gift of time? A bell ringer buys you the time to take attendance, check your email, return graded work, pass out materials, or check-in with a student or two.Provide an opportunity to gather formative data with a low-stakes task: Data, data, everywhere! Bell ringers are a great way to check in on students’ understanding of a particular topic or skill.Increase student autonomy over learning: Regardless of the bell rigger, engaging students in a low-stakes self-directed task builds their confidence and strengthens their skills.Hold students accountable for prior knowledge: Bell ringers are a great way to re-engage students with a homework assignment, previously taught material or text, or background knowledge.Set the stage (and the tone) for the day’s lesson: Whether you’re posing a thought-provoking question or introducing new terminology or text, bell ringers can pique student curiosity and preview the lesson.This leads to less chaos and better classroom management overall.

More structure and better classroom management: Students know exactly what to expect and do upon entering your classroom.While I’m sure this list is far from exhaustive, these are some of the best benefits I’ve experienced from implementing bell ringers in the ELA classroom: With that, bell ringers and the added sense of structure they create bring all sorts of benefits to the ELA classroom. Bell ringers encourage student autonomy by giving them an independent task to focus on at the start of class. That’s why implementing bell ringers is the perfect solution. Of course, that structure needs to be combined with student autonomy. If there’s one thing I’ve learned over my years of teaching is that students thrive on structure. What are the Benefits of Implementing Bell Ringers?
