Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Teaching students how to write a reflective narrative hero

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

Mayan pyramids vs egyptian pyramids lesson plan idea hero

Looking to include ELA instruction in your social studies classroom? This Mayan pyramids vs. Egyptian pyramids lesson plan idea has students discuss the similarities and differences between the two types of structures through writing an essay.

Shaped Staff

teacher in classroom with students

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

iPad with image of Shaped blog content

Find free teaching resources. Explore fun classroom activities, lessons plans, downloadables, and videos for Grade K–12 kids to keep learning and growing at grade level.

Shaped Staff

Student reading

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

Teaching rational numbers decimals fractions hero

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

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Trauma informed teaching strategies hero

An educator shares four trauma-informed teaching strategies to improve instruction for students who need it based on her experience across different schools.

Jenn Evans, M.Ed.
Senior Product Marketing Manager for Supplemental & Intervention Solutions, HMH

SEL Current Events hero

Fourth-grade teacher Perry Hollins shares tips for teaching current events through an SEL lens.

Perry Hollins
Fourth-Grade Teacher, Evanston/Skokie School District, Illinois

WF1307785 Hero

Meet CJ Reynolds, a high school teacher in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. By creating the teacher YouTube channel Real Rap with Reynolds, he has discovered that what might be ordinary for his classroom, may be someone else's extraordinary.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Culturally responsive books

Teachers should read or assign culturally responsive books with characters of different cultures, races, religions, genders, and other identities to help them understand themselves and each other.

Jaleel R. Howard, MEd
Educator and UCLA Doctoral Student

Sam Blanchard
UCLA Doctoral Student and Former Teacher

Teaching controversial issues in classroom hero

Use these five approaches to address and teach controversial issues in your classroom consisting of students with diverse backgrounds and beliefs.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

National Nutrition Month

Kick-start a commitment to healthy eating this National Nutrition Month with these fresh and fun nutrition lesson plan and activity ideas for high school students.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

Sel activities

These five social-emotional learning activities for high school students are based on CASEL's core SEL competencies. This lesson plan will help mold your students into independent and meaningful contributors to society.

Sara Buren
Shaped Contributor

WF1309635 Shaped 2021 Blog Post Math at The Met Hero

Here are three specific ways that teaching math through art from The Met can enhance your students' learning experience.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1313693 Hero

No matter what your middle school or high school class is reading, these writing prompts about love will get them ready for Valentine's Day.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

Inauguration acivities 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

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

WF1304900 CJ Reynolds 3

CJ Reynolds finds support with fellow teachers both at school and in online communities.

CJ Reynolds
High School Literature Teacher, Philadelphia School District

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