Shaped

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

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Science Activities for the Classroom: 7 Indicator Recipes for Students

Download these activities to teach students about indicators, chemicals that “indicate” the presence or absence of a substance or check on the strength of a solution.

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Teaching Supreme Court Cases: The Role of the Fourth Amendment in Schools

Use this New Jersey v. T.L.O. lesson plan to teach your students about the Fourth Amendment and unreasonable search and seizure.

Shaped Staff

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Teaching World History: A Protestant Reformation Lesson Plan

Download this Protestant Reformation lesson plan to teach your students about this period of upheaval in Europe. These Protestant Reformation activities for middle school and high school encourage critical thinking through writing and primary source analysis.

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Assess Students' Understanding of NGSS with These Engineering Activities

You can use these free online activities from the National Assessment of Educational Progress to gauge how well your students understand NGSS science concepts.

Dr. Cary Sneider
NGSS Writing Team Leader, Associate Research Professor at Portland State University

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An Hour of Code Activity: Celebrate Computer Science Education Week

What is the Hour of Code? Why is coding important for students to learn? Answer these questions and more with this 2020 Hour of Code Week activity.

Reynaldo Vargas

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Teaching Mindfulness in the Classroom With Early Learners

Begin teaching mindfulness in the classroom with your early learners using this handy primer from a veteran teacher for practicing mindfulness in schools with your students.

Kim Block
Retired Teacher

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Teaching the Renaissance: World History Lesson Plan and Activities

Use this Renaissance lesson plan and activities for middle school and high school to teach your students about this era of cultural "rebirth" in the 14th to 17th centuries.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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New Wings: Writing Praise Poems in the Classroom

Poet Glenis Redmond says teaching students how to write a praise poem is a great way to dive into metaphors and similes and have them flex their creative muscles.

Glenis Redmond
Poet and Teaching Artist

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Black Friday Classroom Activity and Lesson Plan: Teaching Math and Money

This Black Friday classroom activity can teach students about spending and budgeting as well as decimals and percentages. The Black Friday lesson plan is appropriate for elementary students.

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How to Use Short Films as a Resource for Teaching World Languages

A Spanish language teacher provides tips for incorporating using short films as authentic, relevant resources in World Languages classes.

Karly Enright
Spanish Teacher

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3 Kindergarten Math Games and Activities for the Classroom

These math activities for kindergarten focus on addition and counting. Use these kindergarten math games for the classroom to show how mathematics is found everywhere in students' world.

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9 Thanksgiving Classroom Activities, Games, and Crafts

Looking for Thanksgiving ideas for school? Explore 9 Thanksgiving classroom activities, games, and crafts to help you celebrate the holiday.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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Celebrate STEM Using Hands-On Experiments and Science Stories

On November 8 (and every day), try these quick, simple and easy STEM Day activities for elementary students—created by the Kitchen Pantry Scientist and author of STEAM project books, Liz Heinecke.

Liz Lee Heinecke
STEAM Author; The Kitchen Pantry Scientist

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Teaching Supreme Court Cases: Tinker v. Des Moines and Freedom of Speech

Use this Tinker v. Des Moines lesson plan to teach your students about the debate surrounding Freedom of Speech in public school settings.

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Bullying Prevention Tips from Carmen Sandiego’s Fearless Kids

Use these tips inspired by #racetospeakup founder Devin Moore, and a free SEL lesson plan, to discuss bullying prevention with your students.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

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Children's Books About Disabilities and Being Different

Teach students about dyslexia, autism, and more through reading children's books about being different. Use this list to build the best classroom library—including children's books about disabilities and special needs.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

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3 Presidential Election Day Activities for Middle School and High School Students

Fun middle school and high school election day activities can help engage students in politics. Start with these classroom voting activities to teach the election process.

Tim Phillips
Social Science Teacher, Township School District 214, Illinois

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Back to Vacation: Activities for French Class

This free printable activity engages French language learners in interpretive and presentational modes of communication and activates prior knowledge of vocabulary while introducing them to new words and new places in the French-speaking world.

Kerry Santoro
Shaped Contributor

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