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Shaped

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

Latest Posts

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My Discussion on Multicultural Capital at TESOL

Author and and English learner expert Sylvia Acevedo shared with a TESOL audience how having a multicultural background offers a competitive advantage in school, in career opportunities, and in life.

Sylvia Acevedo
HMH Author and CEO, Girl Scouts of America

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7 Strategies for Teaching with Intention…and Heart

Thought leader Carol Jago offers 7 strategies for improving literacy and ensuring that students develop a love of reading.

Shaped Staff

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Resistant Reader? 5 Tips to Encourage Young Children to Embrace Reading

Creative ways to encourage Pre-K through Grade 2 children to embrace reading.

Francie Alexander
Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research

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5 Things EL Educators Can Learn from the Girl Scouts

Just in time for TESOL, Sylvia Acevedo, interim CEO of Girls Scouts of the USA, shares some inspiration for EL educators she has learned over the years from the Girl Scouts.

Shaped Staff

Read Across America

Read Across America…and Beyond!

In honor of Read Across America Day, let’s celebrate great American literature by inspiring reading.

Shaped Staff

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Icons & Inspiration: The History of George Orwell’s "Nineteen Eighty-Four"

Did you know that HMH predecessor Harcourt, Brace & Company was the only American publisher interested in purchasing George Orwell's Animal Farm? In light of the recent surge in readership of dystopian novels, HMH Archivist Susan Steinway takes a closer look at Orwell's publishing history with HMH.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

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Icons & Inspiration: Writers, Poets and Artists of the Harlem Renaissance

In observance of Black History Month, HMH archivist Susan Steinway pulled together a list of notable and influential writers, poets and artists published by HMH’s predecessor companies, Harcourt, Brace & Company and Houghton Mifflin, during the Harlem Renaissance.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

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Icons & Inspirations: The Write Way to Celebrate National Handwriting Day

To celebrate National Handwriting Day, HMH Archivist Susan Steinway takes a look through some of the handwritten documents found in the HMH archives.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

Spark Roundup

The Spark News Roundup: Ideas Worth Sharing

In this edition of The Spark News Roundup, we highlight a California early learning campaign to shrink language disparities by installing conversation prompts into playgrounds, an innovative scaffolding technique for teaching English-language learners, how America’s academic approaches differ from the rest of the world, and more.

HMHCo

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What I Have Learned Teaching My Refugee Students

English Language Development teacher Amelia Herrera shares lessons she has learned from teaching refugee students.

Amelia Herrera
English Language Development Teacher, Language Institute at Modesto City Schools

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7 Ways to Lead the Way to Literacy — From the Experts

We asked each of our literacy experts to share what they think will move the needle in increasing reading proficiency. Here are some of the tips that stuck with us most.

HMHCo

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What Can Educators Learn From 20 Years of Reading Research?

HMH's Director of Literacy Education Research Julia Febiger shares key takeaways from a study from The Institution of Education Sciences about effective reading programs and practices for adolescents.

Julia Febiger
Research Expert

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The Amazing Reading Brain: Why Emotion Plays a Large Part in Reading Comprehension

HMH program advisor Dr. David Dockterman explains the role of emotions in reading comprehension.

Dr. David Dockterman
Lecturer, Harvard Graduate School of Education

Spark Roundup

The Spark News Roundup: Ideas Worth Sharing

In this edition of The Spark News Roundup, we take a closer look at how some schools are introducing new and innovative practices into their classrooms, from scheduling four recesses a day, to embracing a more interactive approach to preschool math instruction through the use of talking puppets.

HMHCo

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Calling All Young Writers: Do You Have a Story? We Want to Publish It!

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt is sending out a final call for submissions to the Spark a Story national short story writing contest, which closes October 7.

HMHCo

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The Elementary and Middle School Guide for Back to School Books

As kids head back to school, HMH Chief Academic Officer Francie Alexander shares some elementary and middle school-level books to help ease the transition from summer to fall.

Francie Alexander
Senior Vice President, Efficacy & Consulting Research

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Four Ways to Help Students Become Better Writers

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Program Author Dr. Bill McBride shares four ways to help students analyze complex prompts and become better writers.

Dr. Bill McBride
Author-in-Residence

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Even Published Authors Get Stuck: How to Overcome Writer’s Block

To celebrate HMH’s Spark a Story contest, we turned to some of our authors and novelists to get their tips for how to overcome writer’s block.

HMHCo

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