Welcome to a new school year! For most teachers in the U.S., school has been in session for at least a few weeks and is looking more like the “old normal.”
While we all breathe a collective sigh of relief, teachers are noticing the residual effects of the pandemic years on their students. There are the big things, of course, academic slide and social/emotional difficulties. These will take time and patience…and more time.
But there are also smaller things that we can work to remediate. Reportedly students are having trouble getting back into learning. The familiar behaviors and routines to start the school day and get ready to learn, which were taught and reinforced since kindergarten, are rusty. Many of our youngest students never even had the opportunity to develop these essential habits.
So, I am super excited to present my newest product line—STEM Bell Ringers!
What Are Bell Ringers?
A bell ringer activity, also sometimes known as warm-ups, starters, or entrance tickets, consists of a prompt, a short question, a problem, a puzzle, or a task to engage students when they first come into the room. Bell ringers should be familiar to every student and can be completed easily.
The purpose of bell ringers is to get students engaged in learning immediately upon entering the classroom. This sets the stage for the day’s learning, provides structure to improve classroom management, and allows you, the teacher, a few minutes to take attendance, get organized, prepare materials, etc. by providing meaningful activities instead of busy work.
What's Included in These STEM Bell Ringers?
Presently, I have eight STEM Bell Ringer Themes – Back to School, Fall or Autumn, Construction, Outer Space, Winter, Spring, Summer, and Bible (Creation Story).
Each one of these resources includes five types of STEM Bell Ringers, four of each type.
- Quotes/Verses (for the Bible version)
- Mazes
- Brain Teasers
- Creativity Challenges
- Building Challenges
Each STEM bell ringer takes approximately 5-10 minutes to complete.
How Are These STEM Bell Ringers Used?
My STEM bell ringers are super simple to prepare and implement. Simply print on white or colored paper and post it on the classroom wall or use the half sheets to pass out to students. When the students have completed their activity, they can return them to you or share their responses with the class.
Some teachers like to have their students paste them in a notebook and write their responses there. At the end of the unit, they will have a journal to refer to.
STEM Bell Ringers with Jewel's School Gems Club
Download all these STEM bell ringers (and more) below when you sign up for an annual membership in Jewel’s School Gems Club. For just $47, you can download all these, as well as all existing resources on the website. Sign up today!
