2025 October ELA Bell Ringers

You know what's frustrating? Trying to find good October activities that don't turn into fluff just because they're Halloween-themed. I have been homeschooling my daughter for over 4 years now, and every fall I would spend hours looking for something that would actually challenge her ninth-grade brain while still being fun. Most of what I found was either too babyish or completely disconnected from what she actually needed to learn.

So last year, I finally got fed up and starting making my own. These 23 bell ringers have become our go-to for October mornings—they are quick (5-10 minutes), they get her thinking, and honestly? She doesn't even realize how much serious ELA work she iw doing because she iw too busy getting into the spooky mood. We are talking real Gothic literature, vocabulary that will help her writing techniques she will need in college—but wrapped up in themes that make her actually want to do the work.

The best part - watching her face when she connects something from Edgar Allan Poe to a modern horror movie, or when she uses a new vocabulary word in regular conversation without even thinking about it. That is when you know the learning is really sticking. I have tweaked these activities based on what worked (and what did not) with my own kid, so they hit that sweet spot of being challenging without being overwhelming.

INCLUDED IN THIS RESOURCE:

• NO-PREP, time-saver; ready-to-use resource

• 23 comprehensive bell ringer activities organized into themed weekly units

• Printable format with clean, student/homeschoolers-friendly layout requiring minimal preparation

• Enhanced AP-level prompts featuring advanced literary analysis and rhetorical techniques

TOPICS INCLUDED:

• Gothic literature analysis featuring Edgar Allan Poe and Washington Irving

• Advanced grammar concepts including subject-verb agreement and misplaced modifiers

• Creative writing with focus on unreliable narrators and dramatic irony

• Sophisticated vocabulary development with etymology and historical context

I know firsthand how exhausting it can be to constantly create engaging content while juggling everything else that comes with homeschooling—some days I barely have time to prep dinner, let alone design elaborate lesson plans!  That is exactly why I created these October bell ringers with busy homeschool families in mind:  no additional materials to hunt down, no complicated setup that eats into your morning, just print-and-go content that actually works.  I have been using variations of these activities with my own daughter for years, and I can tell you that she genuinely looks forward to her daily warm-ups now (which, let's be honest, is a homeschool mom victory right there!).  What I love most is watching her tackle increasingly sophisticated analysis without even realizing how much her thinking skills are developing—she is building the kind of critical reasoning that will serve her well in college while having fun with spooky themes.

If you and your students/homeschoolers enjoyed this resource, please leave a review.

Thank you for your support!

Tina – Big Easy Homeschooling Mom