People thrive on routines. And even more importantly, kids and students need routines to help them feel less stressed and more focused in the classroom. So what is the best way to set up your classroom procedures to create routines? Starting each class with bell work which are also called bell ringers, warm ups and do nows.
Classroom Procedures for High School English
Establishing a bell ringer routine early in the year will establish clear classroom procedures and protocols to set everyone up for success. However, it is never too late in the year to start or adjust your classroom procedures as they relate to the start of class.
10 Considerations for Bell Ringer Classroom Procedures
One: Have a Reason for you Bell Ringer Routine
If you are just doing bell ringers to have a classroom procedure, then you are not harnessing the power of bell work. Be sure that you have a reason for the routine you establish.
Two: Make your Bell Work Classroom Procedures Predictable
In order for something to become routine, it must be predictable. There are lots of ways to create predictability. For more check out this post on The Bell Ringer Bell Ringer Activity List.
Three: Make Sure Your Students Understand the Why
Students need to know why you are doing any activity. It gives them more buy-in. So make sure you share with your students why you are using a particular style of bell work.
Four: Consider the Timeframe
For bell ringers to be part of your classroom procedures and routines, they need to take fewer than 10 minutes. Anything more than 10 minutes isn’t bell work, it is a class activity.
Five: Make them Standards Based
Going back to the idea that you need to have a reason for your bell ringer procedures, make sure that they are grounded in the standards. They can be grounded in your content standards or SEL standards, but either way, consult your standards as you develop your routine.
Six: Make them Skills Based
A skills based bell ringer routine actually fulfills a number of the above considerations. If your bell ringers help students develop and practice their skills, you ARE making them standards based and setting a reason for your routines.
Seven: Practice Close Reading
A bell work routine is a great way to help students work on their close reading skills. You can return to the same text multiple times over the course of the week. For more on this, check this post on using a Poem of the Week.
Oh and grab a free Bell Ringer Sampler Set which includes several examples of close reading bell work.
Eight: Use Bell Ringers for Sneaky Test Prep
Bell work classroom procedures and routines are a great way to include test prep without it feeling like test prep. I use a number of bell ringers that prepare my AP® students for the exam without it overtly feeling like exam practice. Poem of the Week, Prose Passage of the Week and Rhetorical Analysis of the week are all close reading activities which help students develop the skills they need for the AP® English exams through the close reading and thesis practice they include.
Want to see what this looks like? Grab the free Bell Ringer Sampler Set.
Nine: Use for Review or Introduction
Bell ringer routines are also a great way to build in review of material like literary terms or introduce material like vocabulary.
Ten: Hold Students Accountable
Determine how you will hold students accountable for the work that they do during bell ringer time. Be sure that you are assessing students but not making extra work for yourself. Since I primarily use an “Of the Week” style of bell ringer, I only assess on Fridays. I leave the rest of the week to natural consequences that emerge on Fridays. I can tell students who have not been paying attention/doing the work during the week based on their responses on the assessed Friday bell ringer.
Classroom Procedures and Routines for Bell Work
No matter what you decide to do for you bell work routine, make sure you are making conscious decisions about how and why you want your opening classroom procedures to play out.
Related Resources
The Bell Ringer Bell Ringer Activity List
Teaching Poetry Analysis through Poem of the Week
Class Routines: Decide Once on Bell Ringer Activities
