Shaped

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

Latest Posts

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

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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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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

Free Math Activities for Middle School

Try these free middle school math activities that cover budgeting, taxes, social media engagement, coding, and many more topics.

Shaped Staff

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 8 ELA

Free English Language Arts and Reading Activities for Middle School

Try free English language arts activities for Grades 6-8 focusing on haikus, metaphors, figurative language, and more curriculum-rich topics.

Shaped Staff

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

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 12 Science

Free Science Activities for Middle School and High School

Whether you're teaching remotely or in the classroom, these fun science activities for middle school and high school students can help make learning fun.

Shaped Staff

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

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5 Social-Emotional Learning Activities for Middle School

Embrace SEL in the classroom with these social-emotional learning activities for middle school that address each of CASEL's five core competencies.

Sara Buren
Shaped Contributor

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Virtual Rewards for Students in the Online Classroom

Looking for ideas for virtual rewards for students in the online classroom? Try these incentives to ensure students have fun in the online classroom. These ideas offer ways to reward individual students or entire classes.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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What It's Like to Be a Teacher in the COVID–19 Era

We talked with educators across the country about the challenges they’re facing in this unusual school year and the lessons they’ve learned so far. Here's what they had to say.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

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Creating Equity in Math: Q&A with Dr. Adrian Mims, Founder of The Calculus Project

Dr. Adrian Mims is the founder of The Calculus Project, an initiative to increase equity in mathematics and get students of color in a calculus class before finishing high school. Mims shares his convictions on access to mathematics and equity in math education, along with his efforts that were responsible for his success in college and founding The Calculus Project.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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ELA Halloween Activities for Middle School and High School Students

Get your ELA class into the spirit with these fun Halloween activities for middle school and high school students, and learn from a few masters of horror how to really make those spines tingle and those bones shake.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

Halloween math activites middle school high school hero

Halloween Math Activities for Middle School and High School Students

Here are fun Halloween math activities for middle school and high school students. Try these activities to celebrate Halloween in your math classroom and ensure that your middle school and high school students can enjoy the holiday while in school.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Fun writing prompts for middle school

4 Writing Prompts for Middle School Students to Practice Different Genres

Use these four fun writing prompts for middle school students, along with accompanying rubrics and tips, to help them build their writing skills throughout the school year.

Sara Buren
Shaped Contributor

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