21 Brilliant Bell Ringer Questions and Activities

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The first five minutes of class can set the tone for an entire lesson. So what can you do to capture your students’ attention and get them ready to learn right away? Morning bell ringers, do nows, warm-ups — these start-of-class activities go by a lot of different names. No matter what you call them, they all serve a similar purpose: to get your students’ minds moving the moment they walk through your door. Use these bell ringer questions as is or as inspiration for your own. 

Creative and Critical Thinking Questions

Jump-start your students’ creativity and critical thinking with bell ringer questions and prompts that get them thinking outside the box. For example, have students reflect on a provocative quote, ask them to brainstorm solutions to a problem, prompt them to invent a new technology, or ask them a deep would you rather question. By kick-starting class with higher-order thinking, your students will be ready to take on any learning challenge.

Try out one of these deep-thinking questions as a journal prompt for high school: 

• Do differences make the world stronger or weaker as a whole? 
• Is this class preparing you for your future? Why/how or why not?
• Is everyone actually morally gray or just some people?
• What should be the ultimate goal of life for all of humanity?
• Is it better to lead with logic or with intuition and emotion?
• How would you help decrease the population of unhoused people?
• What is one creative solution that could help eradicate hunger concerns among children?
• What do you think would be the most efficient mode of transportation 50 years from now? 

Morning Work Journal or Bell Ringers | Think It Through for Critical Thinking 
By Teaching With a Mountain View
Grades: 4th-8th
Subject: Creative Writing

You’ll get 45 weeks of activities to engage, enrich, and extend your students’ creative, critical, and reflective thinking. This creative critical thinking weekly journal is a full year bundle that’s perfect for morning work, early finishers and more! You can set this journal up as bell ringer activities or an early finisher journal. It includes weekly activities for August through June.

SEL Prompts and Bell Ringer Questions

Teaching social-emotional learning (SEL) is critical to student success, but it can be difficult to find time for it during the busy school day. So why not take advantage of those first few moments of class to support it? Help students prepare their minds and bodies for learning by assigning a daily check-in or SEL activity as morning work or bell ringers. You can even make them part of a question of the day for high school students. 

Have one of these questions ready for students to answer as they wait for class to start: 

• What is something unique that makes you happy? 
• What would be the best tool for you in a calming corner? 
• What have you done in the last 24 hours that was kind?
• What could distract your attention in your classes today?
• Describe the last time you made a new friend. 
• What is the difference between anger and frustration?
• Assign each feeling a color and describe why they go together, if you can: happy, sad, mad, guilty, loving. 

Growth Mindset Bell Ringers | 40 SEL Writing Prompts For Any Subject | Volume 2
By Mister Harms
Not Grade Specific
Standards: CCSS RF.3.4a, 4.4a, 5.4a; W.3.1, 3.4, 3.10, 4.1, 4.4, 4.10, 5.1, 5.10, 6.1, 6.4, 6.4, 6.10, 7.1

These fully-editable growth-mindset bell ringers will get your class thinking and are perfect for social emotional learning as well! With thought-provoking and engaging prompts, they can be used as individual writing prompts or large group discussion topics.

Brain Teasers and Logic Puzzles to Use as Bell Ringer Questions

Encourage your students to put on their thinking caps during bell work with brain teasers and logic puzzles! Share a tricky riddle, rebus puzzle, or logic game as a fun way for students to put their minds to work. You could even add a collaborative element by having your students think through the puzzles in partners or groups.

Brain Teaser Bell Ringers | Digital Math Morning Work | Logic Puzzles
By Acres of Learning
Grades: 4th-7th
Subject: Math Test Prep

This set of 50 self-checking Brain Teasers can be used as a bell ringer to get kids focused and working as you do your morning routine or assign in Google Classroom for fast finishers.

Assign an article of the day or week as a bell ringer

Assigning an article of the day or week is a simple way to incorporate reading comprehension and relevant content into your bell ringers. No matter what you teach — social studies, math, music, science — you can bring in thought-provoking articles and passages that build students’ curiosity and comprehension skills.

Strange Geography Article of the Day-Bellringers-Reading Comprehension Passages
By Think Tank
Grades: 6th-9th
Subjects: Close reading, Informational text, Geography
Standards: CCSS RI.5.4, 5.7, 5.10

Infuse reading comprehension skills, informational text, and geography with 21 Strange Geography tidbits and bellringers. Each informational, nonfiction reading comprehension passage has students reading the passage several times, practicing close reading skills, and searching for text evidence while making logical inferences.

Use concept review activities as bell ringers

Those first minutes of class are also an excellent opportunity to review key concepts and skills that align with CCSS. Whether you’re reviewing the prior day’s learning or circling back to a previously taught skill, devoting a little time to review every day can help those important concepts sink in. You might even consider differentiating your bell ringer topics, questions, and activities based on the needs of your individual students. 

MUSIC VOCAB 10 Minute Terms | Music Bellringers | Secondary Music Vocabulary
By Sarah Stockton Resources
Grades: 6th-12th
Subjects: Instrumental Music, Vocal Music

Appropriate for use in band, choir, or orchestra, use this resource over the course of 30 days or group into six lengthier vocabulary units.

BACK TO SCHOOL FULL YEAR ALGEBRA 1 WARM UPS Bundle | Bell Ringers | Exit Tickets
By Algebra Accents 
Grades: 7th-10th
Subject: Algebra

Get ready for back-to-school season with an entire year of bell ringers/warm-ups/exit tickets that include over 200 algebra problems. This no-prep bundle is a growing collection of warm-ups to support the Algebra 1 curriculum and follows the general sequencing.

Make every minute of class count with TPT

With these bell ringer ideas, questions, and activities in hand, you’re sure to start your lessons off strong. If you need more inspiration, be sure to check out other bell ringer resources on TPT.