On This Day Bell Ringers for Grades 6–8
This page collects every on this day bell ringer we have posted for grades 6–8: 1 bell ringer so far, newest first, with a new one added each school day. Each is a 3–5 minute warm-up for middle school students covering prompts tied to something that happened on the same date in history. The answer and teacher notes sit in the collapsed box under each prompt, so you can project the page without giving anything away.
Two questions from both sides of the shoreline
On October 12, 1492, Columbus's crew landed on an island that was already home to the Taíno people. Write one question you would ask a sailor on the ship and one question you would ask a Taíno person watching the ships arrive.
Answer and teacher notes
Answers will vary. Push students toward questions that show each side saw the moment differently, such as "What did you expect to find?" for a sailor and "What did you think these strangers wanted?" for a Taíno person. Good follow-up: why do the two people have such different information?
Source: Britannica: Christopher Columbus
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.
Download this set: spreadsheet (CSV) · JSON
Want more? See how to run bell ringers in middle school, or make a custom one with the free bell ringer generator.