Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Toney Jackson Screenshot Writing Rhymes

Writing Rhymes and Raps with Toney Jackson

Teacher and award-winning poet Toney Jackson joins us for a special lesson on how to write rhymes in the classroom.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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How to Find the Most Effective Digital Writing Program: 5 Considerations

Not all digital writing programs are created equally. Ask these questions when weighing your options.

Meghann Weis
Instructional Technology Coach, Patriot HS, VA

12 Classroom New Year's Activities for Students

12 Classroom New Year's Activities for Students

Ready for a fresh start in your classroom? Say goodbye to the old and hello to the new with our fun New Year's activities for students.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

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12 Summer and Winter Games Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

These 12 Olympics activities for elementary and middle school students will let them sharpen their math, social studies, and writing skills.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

SEL Remote Learning Activities

5 Virtual SEL Activities for Remote Learning

Share these SEL remote activities with your students at home to help them develop SEL skills, like self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and responsible decision-making.

Zoe Del Mar
Shaped Executive Editor

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Pearl Harbor Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Give a lesson on the significance of National Pearl Harbor Remembrance Day with these Pearl Harbor activities for elementary and middle school students.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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2024 National Novel Writing Month: Turning Students into Excited Writers

In November, National Novel Writing Month begins for thousands of writers around the world. At the same time, many teachers introduced their classrooms to the NaNoWriMo Young Writers Program, and found their students developing a new-found passion for creative writing.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Mean, Median & Mode Graphing Using a Dot Plane

Teach your students about the different ways to describe data, including the concepts of mean (average), median, and mode.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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9 Math Intervention Strategies for Struggling Students

These math intervention strategies for struggling students provide lessons, activities, and ideas to support Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3 math students who are two or more years behind grade level.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Teaching x- and y-Axis Graphing on Coordinate Grids

Teach students about graphing along the x and y axis on coordinate graphs as a visual method for showing relationships between numbers.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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90-Second Science: Quick and Easy Science Experiments

Watch these 90-Second Science videos of quick and easy science experiments for kids that you can do at home or in the classroom.

Shaped Staff

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7 Strategies for Teaching Math to English Language Learners

These ELL strategies for math instruction will help you with teaching math to English language learners and supporting math learning for multilingual students.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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Teaching Quadrant Numbers on a Graph

With this math lesson, you can teach students about coordinates, integers, coordinate planes, and functions on a graph.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Middle School Classroom Management

10 Middle School Classroom Management Strategies That Work

Create a healthy and happy learning environment with middle school classroom management strategies that are rooted in brain science.

Dr. Adriana Chavarín-López
Strategy and Instructional Support Officer, San Diego Unified School District

Dr. Michael Vea
Strategy and Instructional Support Officer, San Diego Unified School District

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29 Back-to-School Writing Prompts for Middle and High School

School's back in session, which means it's time for a fresh batch of writing prompts for the new year. Have your high school or middle school students try these Back-to-School prompts this fall.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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Teaching Students How to Write a Reflective Narrative Essay

This lesson explores how to write a reflective narrative essay, a type of writing where writers reflect on an experience and show how their lives changed.

Shaped Staff

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Social and Emotional Learning Activities and Lesson Plans

Teach students the skills needed for success in and out of the classroom with these social and emotional activities and SEL lesson plans.

Shaped Staff

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How to Re-establish Math Conversations This Fall

Five routines are provided to help math teachers establish routines and promote mathematical discussions this school year. The routines consist of four Talk Moves and one language routine.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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