Bellwork Worksheets
Bellwork is just as it sounds. This is work that students get after the second that they enter class. In most cases it will consist of work that is a review of the previous lesson or an introduction to what will be learned that day in class. In either case, it builds off of prior knowledge and gets students focused and ready to build on top of that. The selection of worksheets found in this space will give you a nice array of work to start your day off right.
Bellwork Worksheets:
America! –
Print the tasks on card stock and cut into individual cards. Keep in a can or box for quick picks!
Nature –
All things that are found here relate to nature.
Technology –
Example: List 10 everyday tasks you can do with a smart phone.
Celebrations –
Example: List all the holidays you can think of.
Sort them into categories according to the season in which they occur.
Travel –
Example: List as many reasons as you can think of why people from other countries visit the U.S.
Weekly Review –
Example: Write about something
you learned this week
while reading.
Social Skills –
Example: Describe the proper
etiquette for eating in a
restaurant.
Animals –
Example: List 10 animals that are
native to Africa.
Home –
Example: List and describe each
person and pet who lives
in your house.
School –
Example: How can you become a
better student? List at least
three changes you can
make.
Sports –
Example: Write about whether you
think boys and girls
should compete against
each other.
Quick Take –
Example: Think of a story you are
familiar with. Diagram its
plot, using a basic plot
diagram.
How Many Bellworks? –
Example: Imagine your are going
to start a rock band.
Design the costume you
will wear on stage.
Bubble Sheets –
Example: Make of a list of as many
jobs as you can think of
when it comes to making
a movie.
Which One Is It? –
Example: Write about why its
important that you enjoy
your work.
Bellwork Ideas for Teachers
Here are some bell work ideas for teachers.
Naming
One of the great bellwork ideas is to provide the students with a short passage. You can remove the title of the passage. Give your students two to three minutes to give that passage a thorough read. Give them the task to come up with the name of the title for the passage after reading. Once everyone is done, you can have them share their work. You can also choose a favorite name from all of them. This bellwork activity will allow the children to learn to extract the central idea from texts as the titles are usually based on the central idea. You can also discuss the characteristics of a good title later on with the students. This activity will also help them understand the importance of titles in a text.
Hunt for Figurative
Another great idea for a bell work activity is that you provide the students with a literary text. You can ask them to open up their syllabus literature books or give your own printed piece. After that, you can ask the students to find out as many figurative elements from the piece as possible. You can also allot some time, for example, three minutes. When the three minutes are over, ask the students to share their results with partners. In the end, allow the students to share their work with the entire class. Appreciate the student who finds the most figurative elements from the text. This activity will help the students in learning to identify the figurative language. This method would be more helpful in making the students learn the figurative language than actual teaching.
Theme Of The Poem
You can print a short poem for the students and ask them to find out the theme of the poem. You can also give them a time limit of three minutes to do so. After they are done, you can start a class discussion regarding the theme of the poem. Allow the students to share their thoughts about the poem.
Speech Bubbles
One of my favorite bellwork activities is basically having students create their own meme. This is where I provide students a picture and they create speech bubbles that goes along with the picture. I could be something like a typical comic where each character has something to say. It could also be your standard meme that floats around social media. This is where an overall message comes out of an action in the picture. I remember that at the start of the school year there was a picture of a women running into a brick wall. I cannot remember the exact quote, but it was something to the affect that this a teacher communicating with uncooperative parents. Which is not too far from the truth of how it feels when parents are not willing to hear anything. You can also flip this and create speech bubbles and have the students either draw or find an image online that fits the speech bubbles.
Historic Tweet
This is a bellwork idea that I saw another teacher using successfully for the last few years. It really depends on the content you are covering in class but write a list of historic figures and cut them out on pieces of paper. Students randomly choose a historic person and are tasked with writing a tweet from them. They are often humorous. I give extra credit if it explains a fact of their life and makes me life. Students will put a good amount of work into it when you offer extra credit.