Shaped

A community-driven blog supporting educators, building lifelong learners,
and shaping the future of education.* 

Latest Posts

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All About Me Activities: Celebrate What Makes You 'Different'

Explore All About Me activities for elementary and middle school students. Help your students to celebrate what makes them different.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

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Shapes, Patterns, and Arrangements: Math Activities for Preschoolers

Since your students have a basic knowledge of colors and shapes, Pre-K is a good year to start tackling concepts such as patterns.

Shaped Staff

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Teaching World History: The Early Middle Ages—Worksheets and Activities

Use these downloadable resources to teach students about Charlemagne and the Early Middle Ages.

Shaped Staff

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Empowering Students to Protect the Environment: Teacher Tips

How do educators approach the topic of climate change and environmental protection? Teachers offer advice on how they empower their students.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

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Back to the Language Basics: We Never Learned That!

How do you continue to grow your students’ proficiency in the target language when time must be spent reteaching the basics? A world languages teacher offers three free classroom activities to help teachers navigate possible gaps in curriculum.

Jori Greenhill
Spanish Teacher

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What is 'Looping' In Education?: A Teacher’s Perspective

A middle school science teacher on the benefits of looping with his students and building a family in the classroom.

Tracy Childers
Middle School Science Teacher, Foothills Community School

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Teaching Supreme Court Cases: Drug Testing in High School Athletics

Use this resource to teach a Supreme Court case surrounding drug testing in K–12 schools and the Fourth Amendment.

Shaped Staff

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Teach SEL with Carmen Sandiego’s Fearless Kids Around the World

You don’t need to leave your school to take your class on an international field trip. In our new web series, Carmen Sandiego spotlights six real kids who are creating positive change in their communities.

Shaped Staff

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Educating the Whole Child: Building Teacher-Student Relationships That Last

To build positive teacher-student relationships in the classroom, focus on being personable, setting high expectations, and making learning fun.

Venola Mason
Associate Partner, ICLE and Author, Instructional Excellence, Social and Emotional Learning

62 Ways to Check for Understanding

62 Strategies to Check for Understanding During a Lesson

Explore 62 strategies to check for understanding during lessons. That will enhance student engagement, identify knowledge gaps, and foster effective learning.

Timothy Mugabi
Shaped Contributor

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Using Video to Improve Instruction: Strategies for Administrators and Coaches

These are among the easiest and most meaningful ways to improve instruction by allowing teachers to reflect on video footage of their own instruction.

Shaped Staff

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Science Activities for the Classroom: Fun Recipes for Solutions and Materials

Teach students about chemical reactions, the properties of matter, and other science topics by having them participate in fun, collaborative hands-on activities.

Shaped Staff

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How to Prepare Elementary School Students for Algebra

Ease elementary school students' transition from arithmetic to algebra by introducing them to algebra concepts throughout the elementary grades.

Shaped Staff

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Celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month With These Books

These books with roots in Central America, South America, and the Caribbean reflect the full spectrum of Hispanic life in America.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

Prime Numbers, Trapdoors, and Cracking Codes: A Math Puzzle—Part 2

Prime Numbers, Trapdoors, and Cracking Codes: A Math Puzzle—Part 2

Have your students try their hand at basic RSA enciphering with these downloadable math activities.

Ally Zmijeski
Associate Learning Architect, Math

Lucerne School

The Social-Emotional Learning Need: How a Small District Made It a Reality

An assistant principal shares how her district implemented a new model that works best for them to support social-emotional learning.

Kelly Boeing
Assistant Principal, Lucerne Valley Middle High School

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SEL in Schools: Why Education Leaders Should Express Their Vulnerabilities

When prioritizing social-emotional learning in schools, allowing those you lead to see you as authentically human with deficiencies as well as strengths can be enlightening.

Anthony Colannino
Senior Fellow, the Center for Model Schools; Leading & Teaching for Growth, LLC; Author of Leading with Head and Heart

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Back to School Does Not Have to Mean Back to 'I Don’t Get It!'

A language teacher shares three free back-to-school activities to re-engage students in language learning.

Liz Rigg
Shaped Contributor

*The views expressed in our blog are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of HMH.