Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Fall Literacy Leadership Talks Recap — 5 Takeaways from HMH Literacy Experts

Our fall Literacy Leadership Talks featured insightful takeaways from thought leaders Kate Kinsella, Shane Templeton, David and Yvonne Freeman, David Dockterman, and Sheila Valencia. Read them here, and access the recorded webinars.

Shaped Staff

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A Guide to Engaging, Effective Instruction in Phonics, Spelling, and Vocabulary

In advance of the final fall 2017 Leadership Talk, literacy thought leader Dr. Shane Templeton previews his presentation on differentiating word study instruction.

Dr. Shane Templeton
Foundation Professor Emeritus, Literacy Studies, University of Nevada, Reno; Into Reading Program Author

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Can We Nudge Students To Be Better Learners?

Education thought leader, researcher, and practitioner Dr. David Dockterman gets us thinking about ways to motivate student performance using the types of cues we encounter in daily life. Read his thoughts on four educational nudges.

Dr. David Dockterman
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

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Connecting Language Students to Culture: Celebrate Holidays in the French-Speaking World!

The HMH World Languages Fall French Holiday Calendar offers French teachers an opportunity to bring authentic culture, with suggested activities, into the classroom. Explore some of the October holidays here.

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Join us at NCSS for student engagement, differentiation, assessment, and professional learning solutions

Conferences are a great way to meet thought leaders in your content area and experience new solutions firsthand. HMH will be hosting two popular authors at NCSS, along with Channel One reporter Azia Celestino. Find out what else we have in store.

Shaped Staff

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Blended Learning Guru Weston Kieschnick Is Hitting the Road—Invite Him to Your Teachers’ Lounge!

As he travels the country working with school districts, thought leader Weston Kieschnick shares five steps to Bold School Instruction. Now you can also catch his wisdom in his new Facebook Live series, The Teachers’ Lounge.

Shaped Staff

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Building Boys' Love of Lit!

Our series on motivating independent reading continues with five common-sense tips for engaging boys in books.

Rebecca Salinas
Learning Architect, HMH

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Getting Formative Assessment to Work

Thought leader Sheila Valencia continues our popular Lead the Way to Literacy series with some insight on formative assessment. Can it help close the achievement gap? Find out here.

Dr. Sheila W. Valencia
Professor, Language, Literacy, and Culture, University of Washington; Journeys Program Consultant

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Connecting Language Students to Culture: Celebrate holidays in the Spanish-Speaking World!

Spanish teachers wanting to introduce authentic culture into the classroom will love our new Fall Spanish Holiday Calendar, with suggested activities. Here’s a brief preview of October holidays.

Shaped Staff

What Is Translanguaging

What Is Translanguaging in the Classroom?

What is Translanguaging? Learn the definition of translanguaging and strategies for translanguaging in the bilingual classroom.

Drs. Yvonne and David Freeman
Authors, On Our Way to English, Professors Emeriti, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

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Navigating the Every Student Succeeds Act: With ESSA, More Equitable Assessment Brings Hope for Parity

Wondering about ESSA’s effect on assessments? Dr. Malbert Smith weighs in on three areas where he sees hope for improvement.

Dr. Malbert Smith
CEO, President, and Co-Founder of MetaMetrics

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The Data Promise: Turning Data into Actionable Insight, Part I

In this new series on making the most of education data to enhance learning, EdTech expert Stevin Smith elaborates on 5 important steps to consider. Step one: Define the Question.

Stevin Smith
Senior Vice President of Technical Services, Houghton Mifflin Harcourt

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What Does 3D Teaching Look Like?

In advance of his fall science webinar, Cary Sneider, HMH Science Dimensions Consulting Author, shares a collection of virtual field trips to demonstrate 3D teaching in action.

Dr. Cary Sneider
NGSS Writing Team Leader, Associate Research Professor at Portland State University

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Claims, Evidence, and Reasoning: What You’re Already Doing in Science Class—and in Everyday Life

New education standards can bring new language to describe teaching strategies that are already in place. Here, author Marjorie Frank illustrates the Claims-Evidence-Reasoning language of NGSS with some everyday examples.

Marjorie Frank
Author, ELD Specialist

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Connecting Math and Careers: Getting Students “Animated” about Math

Our “Connecting Math and Careers” series continues with strategies for inspiring students to consider a career in the field of animation.

Shaped Staff

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Navigating the Every Student Succeeds Act: Well-Rounded Curriculum—It’s More Than Math and Literacy

Our series on navigating ESSA continues with Dr. Lissa Pijanowski’s advice on how to develop a well-rounded curriculum.

Dr. Lissa Pijanowski
HMH Contributor

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Hurricane Harvey: Helping Students Through a Natural Disaster

Educators play a crucial role in helping students through disruption, and Hurricane Harvey brought a rough start of the school year to many. But before teachers can support their class, they need tangible sources of assistance, too. Here is a helpful list of resources.

Francie Alexander
Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research

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Use Reading Data to Encourage Students’ Independent Reading

As you assess students’ reading levels at the start of the school year, here are some strategies for supporting students in taking risks, expanding their reading choices, building skills—and becoming engaged independent readers.

Shaped Staff

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