Many ELA classes begin with a bell-ringer task—a short exercise students complete in the first 3-5 minutes while the teacher takes care of attendance and other things. Journaling is a typical bell-work assignment. However, for the average middle or high school ELA teacher, this requires hours of work reading entries and leaving comments within 120-150 spiral notebooks every week. (TEACHER TIP: If it takes longer to assess a bell-work product than it does for students to create it, it’s time to reconsider the task!)

Consider alternative bell-ringer ideas that are faster to assess, provide an opportunity to practice recently-learned literacy skills, and jump start the class. Create tasks that are fun, exciting, and motivate students to dive in. 

For a list of suggestions and execution tips, download the bell-ringer activities document.