The moment our students walk in the classroom, we need to make sure that they get to work. The quicker they get to work, the more effective our use of class time can be. My favorite bell ringer ideas are “Of the Week” bell ringers.
What is a Bell Ringer Activity?
If you are asking yourself, what is a bell ringer activity? It may be that you call it by a different name. Sometimes they are called Bell Work or Do Now Activities or Warm Ups. But, whatever you call them they are an activity that is completed in the first few minutes of class without a lot of instruction. Ideally, students would be trained to get started without any teacher intervention.
Bell Ringer Ideas: “Of the Week” Bell Work
What are “Of the Week” English “do now” activities?
They are a warm up activity that focuses on close reading based on a text that students return to several times over the course of a week. This can be done with poetry (for more see this post on the Poem of the Week), prose fiction, non-fiction and even with allusions.
The reason these bell ringer ideas work is because they set a consistent pattern of analysis for the close reading. Students quickly get into the routine and helps them to follow a process of close reading.
Additionally, an “Of the Week” Bell Work routine is easy to adjust for the schedule your school is on–even when a week is truncated by a day off or two.
Day One
Begin the week by having students focus on a reading passage. It can be a poem, an excerpt from fiction or an excerpt from non-fiction. Or you can focus on introducing students to a new concept like an allusion (for more, check out this post on Teaching Allusions in Literature).
The first time students read, they should just read for meaning and initial observations. I often ask students to “chunk” the passage and then write a one sentence summary for each chunk. Or I ask them to use one word to describe each chunk.
Discuss it quickly as a class and then move on.
Day Two for “Of the Week” Bell Ringers
This bell ringer idea focuses on having students underline and label elements of author’s craft. Initially they may see only one or two, but as the year progresses, they should start to observe and comment on more.
If, like me, you don’t have a five day school week, this step can easily be tacked on day one.
Days Three & Four
Give students a more specific focus. I like to have students hone in on something specific like characterization, setting or structure.
Day Five–Assess
I only assess students on Fridays (or whatever the last day of the week is). If students don’t take notes earlier in the week, this natural consequence is that the Friday work is more complicated.
Ways that you can assess students include writing a thesis, writing a paragraph (or both) or doing a cold read based on something from earlier in the week.
Bell Ringer Ideas for High School English
Students thrive on routine and an “Of the Week” style of bell work is a great way to give it to them. If you would like to learn more, be sure to grab the Bell Ringer Sampler set that includes four different styles of “Of the Week” bell ringers. These are bell ringer ideas that will help you to decide once and know what the plan is for the whole year.
Related Reading
Free Bell Ringer Sampler (Including several “Of the Week” Style)
The Bell Ringer Bell Ringer Activity List
Teaching Poetry Analysis through Poem of the Week
Class Routines: Decide Once on Bell Ringer Activities
Classroom Procedures and Routines: Bell Work in High School English
Teaching Allusion in Literature in High School English
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Join Pencils and Prologues Bell Ringer Membership (includes a variety “of the Week” bell ringers and so much more!)
