89 Music & Choir Do Now, Bell Ringers Suggestions

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September 1, 2016 by morningcamequickly

If you purchased my 89 Music & Choir Do Now, Bell Ringer, Daily Board Activities from my Teacher Pay Teacher store, thank you! I’ve put together a few things here to answer some questions about them and some things I do in my class.

The Daily Board Work Cover Sheet & Weekly Fill in Paper

Everyone has a different schedule and set up to their classes. I included these because you never know if it might be helpful, but depending how you grade your class or how often you work, it may or may not work for you. As you can see in the picture below, I put the cover sheet and then there are 4 copies of the fill in paper and then 3 pages of sight singing exercises. (My copying is done for the first quarter!)

During the first class, I explain to students about the packet and we complete the front together. This way, everyone has the same info at their fingertips and it’s closer than anything on my walls.

 

In subsequent classes when students come in, one of the slides is on the screen. Students pick up their packet and do the activity. (I see my students every other day, so the five spaces on one page covers two weeks worth of time.) I’ll write in a note to remind them what is expected.

They then will practice some sight singing on their own. (At some point during the quarter they will perform alone for me.) And then, they turn in their paper. I will give them a grade each class in the slot where they did their work for the day. I give them a participation grade and a daily board work grade in each class. At the end of the two weeks I total it up and put those grades in the gradebook. It’s easier for me to put grades in once every two weeks, rather than every class. (Did that one year…crazy!)

This system lets students see how they are doing daily. I can also comment on what they write or leave them a note if they have been talking too much (that never happens, right?) or done a super job.

 Using the Different PowerPoint Slides 

To save time from having to remember which slides I have done from each different PowerPoint file, I combined mine all into one. If you do the same thing, it will save time in the long run and keep you organized. I also put them in an order that I think spreads out some serious thinking with some creative fun thinking.

It’s easy to number the slides and pop that number into my lesson plan. Doing this breaks up the monotony of doing the same thing 15 times in a row. Kids will also have their favorite and look forward to it.

In the end, these fulfill the required Bell Ringer time at my school, give me something concrete to grade, and keep kids on task at the beginning of class. I hope this answers any questions you may have had about them. If I missed anything, let me know! Thanks again for your support!