Shaped

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

Latest Posts

Teaching students how to write a persuasive paragraph hero

Teaching Students How to Write a Persuasive Paragraph

Teaching kids how to write a persuasive paragraph consisting of their opinion and supporting sentences puts them on the right track to being an effective communicator.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

SEL Current Events hero

How to Boost Students’ SEL Skills Using Current Events

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

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Poetry Books for Kids and Teenagers: A Look at HMH Poets and Their Works

Celebrate poetry in April and year-round with these HMH poetry books for kids and teenagers. These children's poetry books span science and nature, history, and the arts.

Susan Steinway
Archivist, HMH

Culturally responsive books

Embracing Inclusivity with Culturally Responsive Books for All Students

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

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Elementary

Elementary School Learning Activities

Use these educational activities for elementary school to explore different topics in reading, math, and science and add an element of fun into your lessons.

Shaped Staff

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5 Social-Emotional Learning Activities for High School Students

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

Summer school planning

Summer School Planning for Administrators: Why It's Time to Start Now

School and district leaders should start their summer school planning early to ensure they can secure funding and recruit a strong team.

Shaped Staff

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

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25 Valentine's Day Writing Prompts and Ideas

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

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The Benefits of Building a Team of Like-Minded Teachers

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

CJ Reynolds
High School Literature Teacher, Philadelphia School District

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 8 ELA

Free English Language Arts and Reading Activities for Middle School

Try free English language arts activities for Grades 6-8 focusing on haikus, metaphors, figurative language, and more curriculum-rich topics.

Shaped Staff

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 6 8 Math 85cab6aa25ee358f8b9ee45ba7a4bd78

Free Middle School Learning Activities

Keep students engaged with these fun learning activities for middle school, no matter what subject you teach and whether your students are in person or remote.

Shaped Staff

Black History Month Writing Prompts Hero

8 Black History Month Writing Prompts

Introduce students to Black innovators with these Black History Month writing prompts and guide them into a particular type of text, such as personal narrative, informative, or persuasive.

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

Ela high school lessons

Free High School English Language Arts Activities

Use these high school English language activities to help your learners discover into their own writing styles and embrace reading.

Shaped Staff

Free High School Learning Activities

Free High School Learning Activities

Add a bit of dimension to your classroom routine with our free lesson plan activities for high school students in English language arts, math, science, and social studies.

Shaped Staff

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The Benefits of Routine on Virtual Teaching

CJ Reynolds insists a consistent routine helps aid better virtual teaching.

CJ Reynolds
High School Literature Teacher, Philadelphia School District

WF1307903 Shaped 2020 Blog Post Reflections HERO2 word cloud

11 Most-Read Shaped Blogs of 2020

Before we say goodbye to 2020, we want to highlight the most-read Shaped blogs, written with you in mind as you navigated this most unusual year.

Christine Condon
Shaped Editor-in-Chief

WF1289060 Shaped 2020 Revamp Grade 3 5 Reading

Free Reading Activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th Grade

These reading activities for 3rd, 4th, and 5th grade will help your students with reading practice so they can gain the right literacy skills.

Shaped Staff

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