The bell rings, and hopefully, all your students are ready to learn. However, classrooms aren’t always quiet at the start of class. They can be bustling as students catch up with their classmates and friends.
Teaching middle school students comes with its own challenges. For example, during this period in their lives, middle school students form more complex relationships and care more about peer acceptance, which might impact how they socialize in class. This blog post delves into how bell ringers can prepare students for learning despite what might be happening around them.
What are bell ringers in the classroom?
Bell ringers, also known as “warm-ups,” “do-nows,” or “bell work,” can help students transition into learning. For a more formal definition, the IRIS Center defines a bell ringer as a “short activity students complete at the beginning of class to warm up and review previously taught skills and concepts.” Bell ringers can also be used to preview an upcoming lesson. Let’s dive more into the importance of bell ringers for middle school.
How bell ringers help with classroom management
Bell ringers support classroom management, which is why they’re usually introduced to students at the beginning of the year. Once students are familiar with them, bell ringers can act as a daily routine, helping to establish consistency and expectations. For example, you might set the expectation that students sit down and quietly begin working on the bell ringer before class starts.
Additionally, bell ringers can help students develop self-management, of which goal-setting is a key component. Having a bell ringer to focus on can help students regulate their emotions (or the excitement they might have at the beginning of class) and prepare for the upcoming lesson.
Using bell ringers as formative assessments
Bell ringers, such as questions and prompts, can act as effective formative assessments, informing teachers about students’ progress and helping them adjust their instruction. Bell ringers can also be used as entry tickets. As described in Brown University’s teaching resources, entry tickets focus students’ attention on the day’s topic or ask students to recall background knowledge relevant to the day’s lesson and are administered before lessons. A bell ringer gets students to focus on the upcoming lesson and lets teachers zero in on a skill needed to succeed in it.
Activating prior knowledge with bell ringers
In addition to helping to gauge students’ understanding of what’s been taught, bell ringers can give insight into students’ knowledge about what you are about to cover. Bell ringers can reveal what students might already know about an upcoming lesson and expose misconceptions about topics to inform instruction.
Fun bell ringers for middle school across subjects
Experts in middle school classroom management explain that effective bell ringers have the following criteria:
- They can be completed in 3–5 minutes.
- They are written down.
- They are typically academic (or standards-driven).
- They don’t require any explanation from the teacher. Explaining the activity defeats the purpose of having your students develop their self-management and self-direction skills.
We have gathered examples of bell ringers across subjects for you to consider.
Bell ringers for middle school ELA
1. Word of the day
ELA bell ringers for middle school can help you review or introduce academic vocabulary. It can be as simple as providing a definition and asking students to provide the word or asking students to define a word. You could also write a sentence, highlight a word, and ask students to infer the word’s meaning based on its use in the sentence.
Beyond ELA, this type of bell ringer could also be used in other subjects (such as math, science, or social studies) to prepare students for an upcoming lesson or assess their knowledge of academic vocabulary.
2. “Grammar Quick Fix”
HMH Into Literature includes the feature “Grammar Quick Fix” that teachers can use as bell ringers. These brief lessons teach students how to spot and fix common grammatical errors. The example below shows students how to correct run-on sentences.
First, students see the definition and an example of a run-on sentence. Next, students practice correcting a run-on sentence. Then, students can check to see if they can self-assess their corrections. Finally, students respond to a writing prompt using complete sentences (of course, avoiding using run-on sentences).
3. Writing prompts
Writing prompts serve as an effective way to get students’ creative juices flowing or to have them delve deeper into relevant topics. Writable’s “High 5” feature uses artificial intelligence (AI) to generate writing prompts based on a topic or type of writing. For example, let’s say students are practicing “response to literature.” After trying out the generative AI prompt builder, it offered the following ideas:
- Identify a problem in the story and compare it to a problem in another book you have read. How were the problems solved differently? Use details from both books to discuss the solutions.
- Find a character in the book who learned an important lesson. What was the lesson, and how did it change the character? Use parts of the story to show how this lesson came about.
- Choose an important event from the story and explain why it was crucial to the plot. How would the story change if this event did not happen? Use specific examples from the text to support your answer.
- Describe a setting in your story and compare it to a place in another book you have read.
What makes these places similar or different? Use details from both texts in your response. - Think about the main character in the book you just read. What is one challenge they faced, and how did they overcome it? Use examples from the book to explain your answer.
Of course, if using an AI tool, always review the prompts and make sure they are accurate and appropriate for your students and help you meet your goals. Additionally, the responses might differ from person to person. In general, AI can serve as a tool to save prep time.
Bell ringers for middle school math
4. Math games and icebreakers
Math games and icebreakers are fun ways to get students’ math brains churning. The math bell ringer for middle school could be a puzzle (like a Sudoku or Kakuro puzzle), a math riddle, or a brain teaser. Bonus if the bell ringer helps to review a previous lesson or is used to introduce a new concept.
5. “Problem of the Day”
Some math programs have features you can use as math bell ringers for middle school. For example, HMH Into Math has a “Problem of the Day,” which connects prior learning to the content of the day’s lesson. Here’s an example:
Which of the following is equivalent to 90%?
- 0.09
- 0.9
- ¹⁰⁄₉
- 10 ÷ 9
This problem supports the Grade 6 standard for finding a percent of a quantity as a rate per 100. For more standards-driven “Problem of the Day” ideas, check out the PDF below.
Bell ringers for middle school science
6. Lab preparation
For a science bell ringer, consider having students gather the materials at the beginning of class to prepare for an upcoming experiment. They can also set up the experiment. Students can make a prediction about the experiment, jotting down what they think the outcome will be.
7. Video integration
A video demonstrating an experiment or covering a phenomenon pertaining to an upcoming lesson can get students excited to learn. Students can answer questions about what’s covered in the video afterward or write any questions they have.
Bell ringers for middle school social studies
8. Photo analysis
Consider having students analyze a photo. The photo could be based on a historical or current event. Additionally, the photo could feature a notable person, group of people, or major site. Students can detail what they think is happening in the photo, when the photo was taken, and where. If relevant, students could even delve deeper and analyze how they believe the person (or people) in the photo feels based on what’s going on. Students can share their responses voluntarily or anonymously.
9. Exploring geography
Here are a few bell ringers that can help brush up on geography skills connected to a recent or upcoming lesson:
- Labeling a map, such as cities, states, countries, or landmarks.
- Studying a map and answering questions afterward.
- Playing a game, such as guessing a place based on provided clues.
More bell ringer ideas to stimulate learning
10. Integrating technology
Bell ringers can be a powerful way to take advantage of the technology available to you in your classroom. Here are some engaging bell ringers that integrate technology:
- Using a program like Classcraft or Padlet, have students anonymously respond to a question or prompt and project the responses for all to see.
- Have students safely browse the internet to find a photo that relates to the topic/lesson of the day. They can share their photos and explain why they chose them.
- Provide a link to a short, relevant article or blog post online and have students answer a few questions after reading.
11. Graphic organizers
Graphic organizers can help students organize their thoughts before learning. For example, students can use a Venn diagram to compare different historical eras in their social studies class or, say, acids and bases in their science class. Or, students can use a KWL chart to help you gauge what they already know before diving into a lesson. Essay planning outlines can help students prepare for writing. Check out our range of downloadable graphic organizers.
Share your favorite bell ringers!
Do you use motivational activities before starting a lesson? We’d love to hear about your favorite bell ringers for middle school students. Share them with us via email at shaped@hmhco.com or reach out on Instagram.
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