Shaped

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

 

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Grades 6 8 Science Activities Conservation Hero

Explore a variety of scientific learning activities to engage students in environmental conservation.

Shaped Staff

Teaching students how to write a persuasive paragraph hero

Teaching kids how to write a persuasive paragraph consisting of their opinion and supporting sentences puts them on the right track to being an effective communicator.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

Tips for remote learning without internet access hero

Every school year brings technological challenges, but remote learning without internet is an entirely new type of challenge. Yet students still need teaching. There are students who do not have reliable—if any!—internet access.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

100th day posters

Use these 100th Day of School poster ideas to celebrate your students’ achievements so far this year. As a project, you can also ask students to create their own!

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Teaching students how to write an expository paragraph hero

Want to help your students develop their organizational, analytical, and research skills? Teach them how to write an expository paragraph.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas hero

Looking for the perfect way to say “Thank-you” to educators? We’ve collected Teacher Appreciation Week ideas from principals and administrators across the country. Feel free to steal or revamp them as you please.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1313637 Shaped Blog Post Pi Day Scavenger Hunt 2025

Celebrate Pi Day with a Pi Day scavenger hunt for middle school students. Have students scour the classroom for objects relating to the number pi.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Black history month door ideas hero

Use these Black History Month classroom door decoration ideas to honor the achievements of African Americans throughout history and shed light on the triumphs and challenges they have faced.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Hero Teaching Prime Factorization of 36 Eduplace FINAL updated

When a composite number (like 36) is written as a product of all of its prime factors, we have the prime factorization of the number.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Statue of liberty veterans day

Bring the experiences of U.S. military service members to life for your students with our high school Veterans Day activities and lesson plan ideas.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1162126 hero image 1

Explore HMH's Math at Work web series to hear insights from industry experts about jobs that involve math and more.

Shaped Staff

Teaching with place value charts tens units hero

A place-value system is one in which the position of a digit in a number determines its value, and a place-value chart is a way to make sure digits are in the correct places.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

WF2161300 Shaped 2025 Blog Post Free Graphic Organizers Update hero

Use these free graphic organizer templates to help your students communicate more effectively by classifying ideas, structuring writing projects, and more.

Zoe Del Mar
Shaped Executive Editor

Coaching3

What is student-centered coaching? To meet students’ individual needs, teachers may consider coaching that analyzes data and formulates student-centered goals.

Michelle Smith
Professional Services Consultant, HMH

Student reading

Support students with these seven tips to maximize middle school and high school reading intervention and help your students become better readers.

Shelley Branine
Instructional Coach, HMH

WF2161378 Math Talk Moves Engaging Students Through Discussion Hero

Students should be engaged in solving and discussing tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving.

Dr. Matthew R. Larson
Past President, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM); Senior Fellow, Math Solutions

Renaissance lesson plan

Use our 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

WF1309635 Shaped 2021 Blog Post Math at The Met Hero

Here are three specific ways that teaching math through art from The Met can enhance your students’ learning experience.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor