Shaped

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

 

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Nutrition activities elementary and middle school

8 Nutrition Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Use these nutrition activities for elementary and middle school students to teach them about healthy eating, regular exercise, and self-care.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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The Benefits and Disadvantages of Looping in Education

Explore the benefits and disadvantages of looping in education, where groups of students up from one grade to the next with the same teacher.

Tracy Childers
Middle School Science Teacher, Foothills Community School

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34 Mother’s Day Writing Prompts

Celebrate moms with these Mother's Day writing prompts for your K–3 classroom. Have students practice descriptive language or get creative with a short story.

Ali Habashi
Former Shaped Editor

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9 Memorial Day Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Use these Memorial Day classroom activities for elementary and middle school students to honor those who sacrificed for their country.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

TAW 2021

Virtual Teacher Appreciation Week: How to Celebrate Remotely

Happy National Teacher Appreciation Week! We've created 2025 virtual Teacher Appreciation Week ideas just for you. Explore ways administrators, parents, caregivers, and students can show their appreciation for teachers—this week and all year long.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

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Grades 3–5 Science Activities: Conservation

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

Shaped Staff

Thanksgiving classroom games activities crafts

6 Thanksgiving Classroom Activities, Games, and Crafts

Looking for Thanksgiving ideas for school? Explore 6 Thanksgiving classroom activities, games, and crafts to help you celebrate the holiday.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

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5 St. Patrick’s Day Activities for Elementary and Middle School Students

Use these St. Patrick’s Day activities for elementary and middle school to celebrate and teach your students about the history of the holiday.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

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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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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

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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

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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

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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

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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