What is a bell-ringer?
A bell-ringer (or do-now / warm-up) is a short, self-directed task students start the moment they enter, while the teacher takes attendance — usually a 5-minute review or preview.
A bell-ringer — also called a do-now or warm-up — is a short task students begin the instant they sit down, before the lesson formally starts.
Its job is twofold: it settles the room and reclaims the chaotic first minutes of class (so you can take attendance and check in with students), and it primes the right kind of thinking for the day. Most bell-ringers are a quick spiral review of prior skills, a preview question for today's topic, or a brief critical-thinking prompt.
The best ones are self-directed — posted on the board, doable without instruction, and finished in about five minutes. Run the same format daily and students start automatically, turning the hardest-to-manage part of class into your calmest.
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