Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Teaching students how to write an expository paragraph hero

Teaching Students How to Write an Expository Paragraph

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

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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Teaching Students How to Write a Persuasive Paragraph

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

Girl smiling as she is writing in her classroom workbook

10 Tips and Tricks for Into Math

Here are inside tips from Into Math writers, coaches, and experts, on how to make the most of our core K–8 math program.

Shaped Staff

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How to Boost Students’ SEL Skills Using Current Events

Fourth-grade teacher Perry Hollins shares tips for teaching current events through an SEL lens.

Perry Hollins
Fourth-Grade Teacher, Evanston/Skokie School District, Illinois

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Teaching Prime Factorization of 36

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

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Teaching Dividend, Divisor, and Quotient in Division

When teaching students about dividend, divisor, and quotient in division, introduce algorithms that will allow them to divide larger numbers.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Embracing Inclusivity with Culturally Responsive Books for All Students

Teachers should read or assign culturally responsive books with characters of different cultures, races, religions, genders, and other identities to help them understand themselves and each other.

Jaleel R. Howard, MEd
Educator and UCLA Doctoral Student

Sam Blanchard
UCLA Doctoral Student and Former Teacher

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Elementary

Elementary School Learning Activities

Use these educational activities for elementary school to explore different topics in reading, math, and science and add an element of fun into your lessons.

Shaped Staff

WF1309635 Shaped 2021 Blog Post Math at The Met Hero

Teaching Math Through Art from the Metropolitan Museum of Art

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

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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6 Presidents' Day Bulletin Board Ideas for Teachers

Check out these six Presidents' Day bulletin board ideas created by teachers to get your students learning about American presidents.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

Inauguration acivities for students

5 Presidential Inauguration Activities for Students

Inauguration Day is January 20. These presidential inauguration activities for students can be integrated into social studies or language arts lessons and used in remote or in-person classrooms.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Elementary Science

Science Activities for Elementary Students

Get your kids developing hypotheses, performing experiments, and gathering evidence with these interactive science activities for elementary students.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Impeachment in the Classroom: Q&A With Emma Humphries of iCivics

Dr. Emma Humphries, Chief Education Officer at iCivics, shares how she believes educators can carefully and thoughtfully approach teaching impeachment in K–12 classrooms.

Geraldine Stevens
Social Studies Content Expert

Challenge your students with these 100th Day of School math activities

6 100th Day of School Math Activities: Challenge Your Students

Download these 100th Day of School math activities for your classroom. These printables are suitable for students in Grades 2-5 and beyond.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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8 Black History Month Writing Prompts

Introduce students to Black innovators with these Black History Month writing prompts and guide them into a particular type of text, such as personal narrative, informative, or persuasive.

Perry Hollins
Fourth-Grade Teacher, Evanston/Skokie School District, Illinois

WF1307903 Shaped 2020 Blog Post Reflections HERO2 word cloud

11 Most-Read Shaped Blogs of 2020

Before we say goodbye to 2020, we want to highlight the most-read Shaped blogs, written with you in mind as you navigated this most unusual year.

Christine Condon
Shaped Editor-in-Chief

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100th Day of School Gumball Machine Template and Math Activities

Celebrate 100 days of school with a free 100th Day of School gumball machine template. Explore projects, games, and activities.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 3 5 Reading

Free Reading Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

These reading activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade will help your students with reading practice so they can gain the right literacy skills.

Shaped Staff

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