ELA Bell Ringers for Grades 9–12
This page collects every ELA bell ringer we have posted for grades 9–12: 2 bell ringers so far, newest first, with a new one added each school day. Each is a 3–5 minute warm-up for high school students covering grammar fixes, word choice, short writing and reading skills. The answer and teacher notes sit in the collapsed box under each prompt, so you can project the page without giving anything away.
Three ways to fix a comma splice
This sentence is a comma splice. Fix it three different ways: once with a period, once with a semicolon, and once with a comma plus a conjunction.
The bus was late again, most of us missed the start of first period.
Answer and teacher notes
Period: The bus was late again. Most of us missed the start of first period.
Semicolon: The bus was late again; most of us missed the start of first period.
Comma + conjunction: The bus was late again, so most of us missed the start of first period.
A comma splice joins two complete sentences with only a comma. A comma alone can't hold two independent clauses together. Ask which version best shows that the second idea is caused by the first (the "so" version makes it explicit).
Active versus passive voice
Rewrite this sentence in the active voice so it is shorter and clearer:
The decision was made by the committee after the votes were counted.
Answer and teacher notes
Possible answer: The committee made the decision after it counted the votes.
In active voice, the one doing the action (the committee) comes first. Ask students who did each action; that is their subject.
Free to use. Copy, print, project or adapt any of these for your students. If you share them online, please credit Daily Bell Ringers with a link. Not for resale. License: CC BY-NC 4.0.
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Want more? See our ready-made list of grammar bell ringers and how to run bell ringers in high school, or make a custom one with the free bell ringer generator.