Grammar taught as a stand-alone unit tends not to stick. Grammar practiced for five minutes a day, in real sentences, does.
That's what makes the bell ringer the perfect home for it in ELA class. Small, daily, and tied to writing students actually do.
Formats that work
Daily edit. One sentence with two or three errors. Students rewrite it correctly. Keep the errors focused on the skill you're working on this week.
Sentence combining. Give students two or three short, choppy sentences. They combine them into one strong sentence. There is more than one right answer, which makes the share-out interesting.
Mentor sentence. Put a well-written sentence from a book on the board. Students notice what the author did, then write their own sentence copying the structure.
Punctuation changes meaning. "Let's eat, Grandma" versus "Let's eat Grandma." Students write their own example.
Word choice upgrade. A plain sentence. Students replace three words with stronger ones.
Keep it connected to writing
The point of grammar practice is better writing. Once a week, ask students to find an example of this week's skill in their own writing and fix it or improve it. That's where the practice pays off.
Done-for-you ELA warm-ups
Every set on Daily Bell Ringers includes an ELA prompt. More ideas: Grammar Bell Ringers. To close class, try an ELA exit ticket.