Classroom Sanity Saver: Bell Ringers

Since I am moving from the third grade to the sixth grade, I have been giving a lot of thought to how to save my sanity! 

In other words, what can I automate in my classroom? How can I organize my classroom to run more efficiently?  What can the kids do themselves that 3rd graders weren't able to? Etc.

And one of the things I utilized in my classroom before when I taught 6th Grade Social Studies was bell-ringers.  Now when I taught 6th grade before, it was in a school where 6th grade was not its own classroom, but moved around between subjects.  So bell-ringers were a way to get them settled in.

What is a bell ringer?

A bell-ringer is a warm-up activity to engage your students, get them settled in and to work directly after a transition.

The type of bell-ringer you use can vary widely, but what I typically use is a quote with analytical questions. For example: 

This coming year, I plan to use bell-ringers (or warm-ups) at the beginning of certain subjects as a time to check homework!  So while they work through their bell-ringer in their notebook, they will get out their homework and I will go around and collect and check them off my list.  In this way I can be sure to note who does not have their homework at the beginning of each subject (maybe not every subject, but those subjects that have homework).  

For this purpose I have put together a couple of PDFs of bell-ringers for literature (Shakespeare) and religion (quotations from the Saints).  You can find them in my Teachers Pay Teachers store by clicking on the images below: