Bell Ringers and Do Now Activities

Math

1. Write three different addition problems that each equal 20.
2. Which is greater: 3 tens and 4 ones, or 43? Explain how you know. Answer: 43 (3 tens and 4 ones is 34)
3. Draw a shape with four sides that is not a square. What is it called?
4. Kai has 15 stickers and gives 6 away. How many are left? Show your work two ways. Answer: 9
5. Count by 5s from 35 to 80. How many numbers did you say? Answer: 10 numbers (35, 40 … 80)
6. What time will it be 45 minutes after 2:30? Answer: 3:15
7. Which is bigger, 1/2 or 1/3? Draw a picture to show why. Answer: 1/2
8. Estimate how many steps it takes to walk across the classroom. Explain your strategy.
9. Which one doesn't belong: 9, 16, 25, 30? Give a reason. (There is more than one good answer.)
10. Write a word problem whose answer is 12.
11. Solve 3x + 7 = 28, then check your answer. Answer: x = 7
12. A shirt costs $24 and is 25% off. What is the sale price? Answer: $18
13. Write 0.375 as a fraction in simplest form. Answer: 3/8
14. Two angles of a triangle are 50° and 65°. Find the third angle. Answer: 65°
15. Find the mean of 8, 12, 15, 9 and 6. Answer: 10
16. Is 91 a prime number? Prove your answer. Answer: No: 91 = 7 × 13
17. Simplify 2(x + 5) − 3x. Answer: 10 − x
18. On a map, 1 inch stands for 20 miles. Two towns are 3.5 inches apart on the map. How far apart are they really? Answer: 70 miles
19. What comes next: 2, 6, 18, 54, …? Describe the rule. Answer: 162 (multiply by 3)
20. What is a mistake people often make in math? How can you avoid it?

ELA

1. Write a sentence using the word "enormous". Then write it again using a synonym.
2. Fix this sentence: "me and him goes to the park on saturday." Answer: He and I go to the park on Saturday.
3. Describe your favorite food using all five senses.
4. Who is your favorite book character? Give two reasons.
5. Finish the story: "When I opened the door, the classroom was completely empty…"
6. Write as many words as you can that rhyme with "light".
7. What is the difference between "affect" and "effect"? Write a sentence using each one.
8. Write a six-word story about today.
9. Find the simile: "The hallway was as quiet as a library." What two things are being compared? Answer: The hallway and a library
10. Turn this statement into a question: "The bus arrives at 8:00." Answer: For example: When does the bus arrive?
11. Fill in their, there or they're: "___ going to bring ___ books over ___." Answer: They're, their, there
12. Write a headline for something good that happened at school this week.
13. Argue for or against: homework should be optional. Give two reasons.
14. Put these words in ABC order: zebra, apple, mango, kite, banana. Answer: apple, banana, kite, mango, zebra
15. What is the theme of a story you have read recently? How do you know?
16. Rewrite this sentence to make it more exciting: "The dog ran."
17. Write a sentence that uses a semicolon correctly.
18. Write the opposite of each word: hot, early, loud, empty. Answer: cold, late, quiet, full
19. If you could interview any author, who would it be, and what would you ask?
20. Summarize a movie or show you like in exactly three sentences.

Science

1. Name three living things and three nonliving things you can see from your seat.
2. Why do you think leaves change color in the fall? Write your best guess.
3. What are the three states of matter? Give an example of each. Answer: Solid, liquid and gas
4. What would happen if the moon disappeared? List two ideas.
5. What is the difference between weather and climate?
6. Draw and label a food chain with at least three living things.
7. Ice is solid water, so why does it float on liquid water? Answer: Ice is less dense than liquid water
8. Which would roll farther on carpet, a marble or a toy car? Predict and explain.
9. Name one renewable and one nonrenewable energy source. Answer: For example: solar (renewable), coal (nonrenewable)
10. Write a question you have about space. How could a scientist find the answer?
11. What job do red blood cells do in your body? Answer: They carry oxygen around the body
12. What do plants need to grow? List as many things as you can.
13. A ball falls from a desk to the floor. Describe how its energy changes as it falls. Answer: Stored (potential) energy changes to movement (kinetic) energy
14. Which science lab safety rule do you think is most important, and why?
15. Explain the difference between a physical change and a chemical change, with an example of each.
16. Why do we wear coats in winter? Use the word "heat" in your answer.
17. What is an independent variable? Give an example from an experiment you could do.
18. Which animal would you most like to study? What would you want to find out?
19. At sea level, water boils at 100 °C. What is that in degrees Fahrenheit? Answer: 212 °F
20. Think of an invention that changed the world. What problem does it solve?

Social studies

1. Choose one rule at school. Why do you think we have it?
2. Name three people who help our community and say what each one does.
3. If you could visit any country, where would you go and why?
4. What is the difference between a need and a want? Give two examples of each.
5. Draw a map of our classroom with a key.
6. Why do people move to a new country? List three reasons.
7. Describe a holiday or tradition you know about. What happens?
8. What makes a good leader? Name three qualities.
9. Which invention from the past would be hardest to live without? Why?
10. Why do countries trade with each other?
11. Name the three branches of the US government and one job of each. Answer: Legislative (makes laws), executive (carries out laws), judicial (interprets laws)
12. If you could add one new law, what would it be, and who would it help?
13. Name the seven continents. Answer: Africa, Antarctica, Asia, Australia (Oceania), Europe, North America, South America
14. Why is it important to check more than one source when you read the news?
15. What would you put in a time capsule to show what life is like today?
16. Describe one way geography, such as mountains, rivers or coasts, affects how people live.
17. How did people send messages before phones and the internet?
18. What does "democracy" mean? Write it in your own words.
19. Think of a problem in our community. What is one small step that could help?
20. What question would you ask a person who lived 100 years ago?

Any class

1. Write down one goal for today's lesson.
2. What is one thing you learned last lesson? Explain it as if to someone who was absent.
3. Rate your energy today from 1 to 5. What could help you focus?
4. Write two questions you still have about our current topic.
5. What is something you are proud of this week?
6. Describe a mistake you made and what you learned from it.
7. What helps you learn best: listening, reading, talking or doing? Why?
8. Write three words that describe how you want our class to feel.
9. What could you do if you finish your work early today?
10. Who helped you recently? How could you thank them?
11. Brain dump: in two minutes, write everything you remember about our last topic.
12. Which is harder for you: starting a task or finishing it? Why?
13. What is one thing you could teach the class?
14. What does it mean to be a good listener?
15. If today's lesson were a weather forecast, what would it be, and why?
16. Write one thing you want to get better at this month and one step to start.
17. What is the best advice you have ever been given?
18. What would make our classroom an even better place to learn?
19. Explain a word from our topic with a picture and a sentence.
20. Look at your last piece of work. What is one thing you would change?