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The importance of public speaking skills for students

The Importance of Public Speaking Skills for Students

Why is public speaking important for students? Teaching oral communication can improve your classroom activities and equip students with lifelong skills.

Erik Palmer
Program Consultant, Into Reading and Into Literature

WF1288378 Shaped 2020 Blog Halloween Math Activities Hero Literature

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

Protestant reformation lesson plan Martin Luther

Teaching World History: A Protestant Reformation Lesson Plan

Download our Protestant Reformation lesson plan to teach your students about this period of upheaval in Europe. Then, use the Protestant Reformation activities for middle school and high school to encourage critical thinking through writing and primary source analysis.

Shaped Staff

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Grades 9–12 Science Activities: Conservation

Explore a variety of scientific learning activities to engage students in environmental conservation.

Shaped Staff

Teaching world history: cold war lesson plan and activities

Teaching World History: Cold War Lesson Plan and Activities

Use these Cold War lesson plans and activities for middle school and high school to teach students about the decades-long period of geopolitical tensions between the United States and Soviet Union.

Shaped Staff

Math meets fashion: how does a fashion designer use math?

Math Meets Fashion: How Does a Fashion Designer Use Math?

Learn about the role of mathematics in fashion design with the "Math Meets Fashion" episode of HMH's Math at Work web series.

Shaped Staff

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Teaching Multiplication and Division Relationship Using Arrays

Use this lesson to teach students array multiplication, array division, along with other visual aids to show the relationship between multiplication and division.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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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

Cellphones In Schools

4 Mistakes Educators Make Trying to Manage Cellphones in Schools

Explore suggestions for what you can do differently to achieve a better result when it comes to managing student use of cellphones in classrooms.

Weston Kieschnick
Associate Partner, ICLE

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Grades 1–2 Science Activities: Conservation

Explore a variety of scientific learning activities to engage students in environmental conservation.

Shaped Staff

Math Blog Hero Image

7 Tips for Helping Your Child with Math at Home (When You Hate Math)

Explore tips for parents, caregivers, and educators who are helping children with math at home but don't feel comfortable or competent in the discipline.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Student reading

7 Middle School and High School Reading Intervention Strategies

Support students with these seven tips to maximize middle school and high school reading intervention and help your students become better readers.

Shelley Branine
Instructional Coach, HMH

How To Keep Students Raising Hands 3

Math Talk Moves: Engaging Students Through Discussion in the Math Classroom

Students should be engaged in solving and discussing tasks that promote reasoning and problem solving.

Dr. Matthew R. Larson
Past President, National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM); Senior Fellow, Math Solutions

Renaissance Lesson Plan

Teaching the Renaissance: World History Lesson Plan and Activities

Use our Renaissance lesson plan and activities for middle school and high school to teach your students about this era of cultural “rebirth” in the 14th to 17th centuries.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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

illustrated image with multiplication problems in text

Multiply or Add First? Teaching Order of Operations Rules

Use this lesson to teach students about the order of operations: complete operations in parentheses, multiply and divide from left to right, and add and subtract from left to right.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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2025 National School Counseling Week Ideas: How to Show Appreciation

When is National School Counseling Week in 2025? Explore counselor appreciation week ideas for your school to help celebrate.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Rational Numbers: Decimals, Fractions, and More

Use this lesson to teach students about rational numbers, including decimals, fractions, and integers.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor