Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Literacy@ Work Howto Writea Poem 1

Hook Students Through the Heartstrings With Poetry

Use this downloadable lesson plan by Poet Glenis Redmond in your classroom, and you can discover a lot of surprising and touching information about your students and their lives.

Charmion Mohning
Secondary Reading Coordinator, Cypress-Fairbanks Independent School District

Dionna Smith
ELA and READ 180 Teacher, Thornton Middle School, Texas

Sandra Windham
READ 180 Teacher, Cypress Creek High School, Texas

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Teaching Multiplication with Arrays in Math

By teaching multiplication with arrays in math, you can help students better understand multiplication concepts by enabling them to visualize the computation process.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Instructional Coaching Listening Tour

Why a Listening Tour Is the First Step in Instructional Coaching

A good instructional coach understands that unlimited individual growth must be supported by school-wide change.

Sherry St. Clair
HMH Contributor

Rosa Parks Lesson Plan

A Rosa Parks Lesson Plan: Teaching Her Legacy in the Classroom

Teach students about a key figure in the civil rights movement with this Rosa Parks lesson plan. Teach them about the legacy she left behind with these Rosa Parks activities.

Shaped Staff

Self Care For Teachers

Self-Care for Teachers: Why and How to Make It a Priority

Self-care for teachers matters because unhealthy educators can’t help students. Use these tips from ICLE's Adam Drummond to improve your teacher wellness.

Adam Drummond, EdD
Associate Partner, The Center for Model Schools and Author, Instructional Leadership

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Video: 3 Tips for Designing a Rigorous K–12 Curriculum

According to ICLE Senior Fellow Larry Ainsworth, a rigorous curriculum should have clear learning outcomes, engaging learning experiences, differentiated instruction, and sequenced units of study.

Larry Ainsworth
HMH Contributor

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January 2020: Celebrate a Holiday in Class Every Day

Have fun every day with these January classroom ideas for elementary students. Ideas range from fun facts to share with the class to more detailed school activities and lessons.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

New Years Resolutions Science

New Year's Resolutions Every Science Teacher Can Relate To

We are about to start a new year, and for science teachers, it’s another chance to make (and break) some resolutions.

Ann Pearson
Shaped Contributor

Fact or Fiction? The Myth That We Have Specific Learning Styles, Debunked

Fact or Fiction? The Myth That We Have Specific Learning Styles, Debunked

The myth that we all have specific learning styles, debunked—research shows that 90% of teachers believe the learning styles myth.

Rachel L. Schechter, PhD
VP Learning Sciences, Learning Sciences and Research Advisory Board Chair

Martin Luther King Discussion Questions

Martin Luther King Jr. Discussion Questions: Reflecting on His Legacy

On MLK Day, reflect on Martin Luther King Jr.’s powerful message of equality and human potential with a list of Martin Luther King discussion questions.

Alex Honeysett
Former Director of Communications, Channel One News

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Quad D Instruction in the Classroom: Where Rigor Meets Relevance

Quad D instruction occurs when students engage in tasks that have rigor and relevance, giving them the opportunity to solve real-world problems.

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

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Mindshift in How We Teach English Learners

Reimagine how you teach ELs by reconfiguring the way you view second-language acquisition and adapting your practices, policies, and resources to reflect it.

Joanna Miral
Shaped Staff

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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.

Shaped Staff

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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

Protestant reformation lesson plan Martin Luther

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.

Shaped Staff

Shaped Hero Blog Making Assessments Sparkle With Engineering 3 4C284B73B1B0834026B992B9Ac93D6Bd

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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Putting Theory Into Practice: Building Collective Teacher Efficacy

Developing self-efficacy and making a curriculum rigorous and relevant are key to optimizing the best opportunity for the growth of our students.

Monica Fitzgerald
Reading AIS Teacher, Gillette Road Middle School

Jago 2020 Literacy Predictions

A 2020 Literacy Strategy: From Reading Worriers to Reading Warriors

A literacy expert weighs in on the latest research and trends to help inform teaching strategies in the new year.

Carol Jago
HMH Author and Associate Director, California Reading & Literature Project at UCLA

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