Class Starters
Here’s a list I found somewhere (maybe FLTEACH?) and I apologize for
not being able to give credit to the author.
Debbie Fowler
Buckeye Valley High School
Delaware OH
Bellwork/Do Now Ideas
Give it a cute name. Allons-y! for French, Ahora or Vamonos for
Spanish.
1) scrambled sentences
2) scrambled vocabulary words—match to English or write meaning
3) draw picture for a sentence
4) write sentence(s) from picture
5) fill-in-the-blank with a word that makes sense (give word box,
multiple choice, or nothing)
6) basic questions (name, age, birthday, weather, time)
7) edit the sentence (ex: spelling, s-v agreement, etc) 
3 sentences telling what weekend plans are (give sentence builders)
9) 3 sentences telling what you did last weekend (give sentence
builders)
10) fix the false sentences based on…book class is reading/personal
information
11) solve math problem in French, based on items in French culture
12) convert Farenheit to Celsius or metric to common measurements
13) copy new words, illustrate/define
14) weather report for day with blanks to complete
15) French words used in English
16) put math problems into French words, or put number sentences into
regular numbers
17) 4 sentences about someone in the room w/o using their name, then
read aloud and class guesses who it is
18) 3 truths and a lie about the teacher—copy the sentence they think
is a lie
19) 10 sentences written on board, copy the ones that are true for you
20) 3 things in the room that are…color/adjective/bigger
than/smaller than/etc.
21) trivia question of the day
22) write sentences, is each sentence about one person or more than
one (verb recognition)
23) write sentences, is each sentence about a boy or a girl
(adjective agreement)
24) what do the students need to review: numbers, weather, time,
personal questions, etc.
25) draw clock and students write out time, or write out time and
students draw clocks
26) draw paragraph (paragraph must be illustrate-able)
27) discussion questions to do with partner
28) type up the pms from the previous day and have students translate
it
29) have students answer 3-5 questions after reading the previous
day’s pms
30) match the TL vocab to English
31) unscramble sentences, then arrange into a story
32) make up 5 commands
33) write down what your partner did over the weekend
34) figure out a riddle (from book of riddles)
35) tell what you like best about class so far, & what you like
least. Give one good idea to improve the class.
36) look around the room and write 2 questions about what you see on
the wall (what’s that a picture of? What does that mean? What
country’s flag is that?)
37) write down 3 funny boy’s names, 3 funny girl’s names, and 3 funny
places you might or might not want to visit
38) read the description on the overhead and name that celebrity
39) seasonal short stories, e.g. Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas,
Mardi Gras, etc. Put one on overhead for warmup. Have students
underline words they don’t recognize. Write definitions of those
words. Read & translate story.
40) write as much of yesterday’s story as you can (French or English)
41) listen to a song and fill in the missing words (from list)
42) write a short story with yesterday’s words
43) draw yesterday’s story
44) draw a story using yesterday’s words and tell it to someone or
something
45) come up with 20 words that begin with the letter “…”
46) interview your partner and ask them…what’s happening in their
life…questions about yesterday’s pms…plans for holiday/weekend
47) I have a complete list of everything Bart Simpson had to write on
the board at the beginning of the show, 14 seasons, French and
English. Sometimes we do multiple choice/matching the French &
English. My kids adore the Simpsons!
