Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Bulletin boards presidents day

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

Wf926907 Capitol A

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

Map hands voting

How to Teach a Contested Election and Prioritize Students' Emotional Health

Chris Dier provides five ideas for educators to explore the election with students while ensuring their social and emotional health.

Chris Dier
2020 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 8 Social Studies 85cab6aa25ee358f8b9ee45ba7a4bd78

Free History and Social Studies Activities for Middle School

Allow your middle schoolers to explore the past with these social studies activities and lessons covering topics ranging from U.S. Supreme Court cases to ancient civilizations.

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 8 Math 85cab6aa25ee358f8b9ee45ba7a4bd78

Free Middle School Learning Activities

Keep students engaged with these fun learning activities for middle school, no matter what subject you teach and whether your students are in person or remote.

Shaped Staff

Black History Month Writing Prompts Hero

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

Free High School American History Lesson Plans and Activities

Free High School American History Lesson Plans and Activities

These high school American history lesson plans will help your students understand the importance of learning from the past in order to build a better future.

Shaped Staff

World history lessons activities

Free High School World History Lesson Plans and Activities

From the Renaissance to the Reformation, these world history lessons for high school students can help your students better understand how the past has shaped the present.

Shaped Staff

Free High School Learning Activities

Free High School Learning Activities

Add a bit of dimension to your classroom routine with our free lesson plan activities for high school students in English language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Shaped Staff

History activities

High School History Lesson Plans and Activities

Give students a better understanding of our global society with these high school world history and American history lesson plan ideas and activities.

Shaped Staff

Tyrone Howard Hero 4 1

7 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies and Instructional Practices

Implement these culturally responsive teaching strategies and instruction practices in the classroom to help students feel included, validated, valued, and safe.

Dr. Tyrone C. Howard
Professor, UCLA; Senior Fellow, The Center for Model Schools; HMH Learning Sciences & Research Advisory Board

David oconnor

Don't Just Teach About Cultures—Teach Culturally. Here's the Difference

Teaching culturally means that the educator acts as a guide for students and is actively learning alongside them in their understanding of the content.

David J. O’Connor
American Indian Studies Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

WF1287443 Shaped 2020 Overwhelmed by News HERO

Overwhelmed by News: Helping Students See the Bigger Picture

In an era of information overload, follow these tips to help your students prepare for reading and analyzing the news.

Erik Palmer
Program Consultant, Into Reading and Into Literature

Statue of liberty veterans day

8 High School Veterans Day Activities and Lesson Plan Ideas

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

Election Ballot Hero

Quiz: How Well Do You Know U.S. Presidential Elections?

How much do you know about the U.S. presidency? Test your knowledge with this quiz, and learn some information about electing a U.S. president along the way!

Shaped Staff

Election 2020 Debates Hero

Election 2020 Classroom Activity: How Can Debates Influence an Election?

Students will observe one of the debates in the 2020 presidential election and evaluate the content and performance of the Democratic and Republican nominees.

Glenn Greenberg
Shaped Contributor

WF1263242 Election Day Hero

Election 2020 Classroom Activity: How Do You Become an Informed Voter?

Students will use their research skills to learn about the Democratic and Republican nominees in the presidential election, and where they stand on key issues.

Glenn Greenberg
Shaped Contributor

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