Shaped

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

 

OVER 10 MILLION READS

Latest Posts

Tinker v des moines lesson plan

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

Shaped Staff

WF926907 Shaped October Hero fearless 1

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

Childrens books about disabilities being different 1

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

Artboard 3 100

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

Teaching ngss phenomena in the science classroom

Using science phenomena can jumpstart instruction by helping students realize the real-world context of the topic to be studied. Start with this NGSS phenomena example.

Michael DiSpezio
Author, ScienceFusion and HMH Science Dimensions Programs

TITLE Activities for French Students Back to Vacation 1

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

Message to school leaders rethink motivating teams

Explore Jeff Bezos' Amazon.com annual letter to shareholders to learn about ways that school leaders can motivate their teams.

Shaped Staff

Social media fakes

As teachers, we have a responsibility to help students become media literate, including teaching them how to avoid being duped by fake social media posts.

Erik Palmer
Program Consultant, Into Reading and Into Literature

Halloween Books2

Use this list of the best Halloween books for kids to celebrate the holiday in your classroom. Some of these Halloween children's books feature classic characters such as Curious George!

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

DIY teacher halloween costumes

Searching for the most creative DIY teacher costume to win your school's costume contest? Start with these picks for best teacher Halloween costumes!

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

Announcing Future Podcast Podcast David Dockterman v2

Dr. David Dockterman—lecturer at the Harvard Graduate School of Education—shares his excitement to host our new podcast series, Shaping the Future.

Dr. David Dockterman
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Collaborative learning strategies and techniques

Use these collaborative learning techniques to teach social and emotional skills during the school day and help students build strong relationships.

Jessica McKeown, PhD
HMH Senior Learning Scientist, Math and Science

Getting students to think like scientists

Download Think Like a Scientist posters for your classroom. Getting students comfortable thinking like scientists is no small feat, but it's the best way to teach science.

Shaped Staff

MSC2019 Audience

Attending conferences can be an invaluable resource in a teacher's toolkit, presenting new opportunities to build relationships and expand a professional learning network.

Erika Gilbert
Math AIS Teacher, Gillette Road Middle School

Cynthia Ciesla
5th and 6th Grade AIS Reading and Math Teacher, Gillette Road Middle School

Shapes patterns arrangements

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

WF926906 Shaped 2019 Blog Posts September Empowering Students3

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

WF926906 41542029

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

WF926906 Shaped 2019 Blog Posts September Loopingin Education

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