Warming Your Kids Up for Writing Block

Writing warm-up activities

Have you guys heard of bell-ringers? If you have, it was likely for middle or high school, or even 4th and 5th grade when students switched class periods. BUT I partnered up with The Superhero Teacher and we created Bell Ringers for primary students, too! It’s a fantastic strategy for warming your kids up for writing block.

Below, I’m going to tell you what Bell Ringers are, how to use them, and all the different options.

What are Bell Ringers?

So let’s start with what Bell Ringers are. In middle and high school (the grades Britt started out with), bell ringers are writing prompts that students use as they first come into that period. Now, it will look quite different in primary grades!! Bell ringers cover a variety of different writing styles. They are cyclical practice activities, which means they will spiral throughout the year. Each week will deal with narrative skills, opinion writing, informational writing, sentence editing, and more!

 (Link: Bell Ringers Journal)

How Can I Use Bell Ringers in Primary Grades?

Now, let’s talk about how you can use them in primary classes. Obviously, you can use these however you see fit, but here is my recommendation. I think bell ringers would work best in your first or second grade classroom in the first 5 minutes of your writing block. The kiddos can grab their bell ringer journals, answer the prompt that they either see in their journal or on the board (depending on which format
you choose) and they will write the answer to the prompt.

Self-Assessments for Warming your Kids Up for Writing Block

To turn it into a great self-assessment, you can have the students read their responses to three other friends. Then, they’ll put them away and start your writing
lesson. It’s a great activity for warming your kids up for writing block.

Warming up for writers block

(Link: Bell Ringers Journal)

What are the Different Options?

And, this particular Bell Ringer product comes with MULTIPLE options. So, it can fit any format in your classroom. You can print it off like a journal, or you can display the prompt on the board while kids respond in their journal. Also, you get to choose if you want to use colored ink or black and white. AND there are editable options too if you need to write your own prompt one week or for the entire year. So you’ve got options!

  • Color journal
  • Editable black and white journal
  • Black and white journal
  • Editable color journal
  • PowerPoint to display

Let’s get a closer look at each of those options below!
Option #1: Color Journal

Color journal closeup

(Link: Bell Ringers Journal)
Option one is to have a journal with color images. The days of the week also come in color, too. It comes with primary writing lines OR regular writing lines. You can choose which you need for your class.

Option #2: Black and White Journal

(Link: Bell Ringers Journal)
The black and white journal comes with the photographs in grayscale and the clip art in black and white so that the students can color in the clip art. The cover is also black and white, so the kiddos can color theirs and make it their own. Just like with the color version, you can choose between primary and regular writing lines.

Option #3 & 4: Color or B/W EDITABLE Journal

Editable journal closeup

(Link: Bell Ringers Journal)
Also included in the bell ringer journals is a PowerPoint version of the bell ringers. This is so that you can put your own prompt in if you would like. Or you could decrease the number of lines, move the lines, or increase the number of lines your students write on. The text and the writing lines are editable in this version.

Option #5: Presentation Version to display

(Link: Bell Ringers Presentation Version)
This presentation version of the bell ringers journal is the SAME writing prompts as the journal. It’s just offered in PPT format so that you can display the prompt on the board, and the students can record their answers into blank writing journals. This may be for the teachers who have extremely limited copies for the year, are out of copies for the year, or just want to be eco-friendly. Some teachers choose to buy the bundle, too. It includes both the presentation and the journal prompts so that students can write in their journals and see it on the board as they come in as well.

Option #6: Digital Conversion

Color or black and white editable journal printout

Want to check out a week for free?

In Britt’s store, she has put a full Monday-Friday set up that you can check it out to see if it would work for your kiddos. If so, check for links below!

Close up of bell ringer journal

(Link: Freebie)

Warming Your Kids Up for Writing Block – Get Started!

Want to get started today? Grab the journal, PowerPoint, or bundle here!

Bell ringer journal for first and second grade

(Link: Bell Ringers Journal)

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Writing warm-up activities
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