Shaped

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

 

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HMH Elementary 2017 48114

Explore “All About Me”​ activities for elementary and middle school students. Help your students to celebrate what makes them different.

Onalee Smith
Shaped Contributor

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

Black Friday Hero Image

This Black Friday classroom activity can teach elementary students about spending and budgeting as well as decimals and percentages.

Shaped Staff

Oral reading fluency group reading hero

This article answers the question, what is oral reading fluency? It provides fluency teaching strategies after defining fluency and explaining why it's important.

Dr. Amy Endo
Education Research Director, Supplemental & Intervention Language & Literacy

Hero Teaching Flat Plane Shapes and Solid Shapes 2025 Update hero

Teach students about plane shapes, or closed, two-dimensional figures, and solid shapes, which include many of the everyday objects with which students are familiar.

Shaped Staff

What is translanguaging

What is translanguaging? Learn the definition of translanguaging and strategies for translanguaging in the multilingual classroom.

Drs. Yvonne and David Freeman
Authors, On Our Way to English, Professors Emeriti, University of Texas, Rio Grande Valley

Teacher Appreciation Week Ideas hero

Looking for the perfect way to say “Thank-you” to educators? We’ve collected Teacher Appreciation Week ideas from principals and administrators across the country. Feel free to steal or revamp them as you please.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1313637 Shaped Blog Post Pi Day Scavenger Hunt 2025

Celebrate Pi Day with a Pi Day scavenger hunt for middle school students. Have students scour the classroom for objects relating to the number pi.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Black history month door ideas hero

Use these Black History Month classroom door decoration ideas to honor the achievements of African Americans throughout history and shed light on the triumphs and challenges they have faced.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Hero Teaching Prime Factorization of 36 Eduplace FINAL updated

When a composite number (like 36) is written as a product of all of its prime factors, we have the prime factorization of the number.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

Statue of liberty veterans day

Bring the experiences of U.S. military service members to life for your students with our high school Veterans Day activities and lesson plan ideas.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

WF1162126 hero image 1

Explore HMH's Math at Work web series to hear insights from industry experts about jobs that involve math and more.

Shaped Staff

Teaching with place value charts tens units hero

A place-value system is one in which the position of a digit in a number determines its value, and a place-value chart is a way to make sure digits are in the correct places.

Richard Blankman
Shaped Executive Editor

WF2161300 Shaped 2025 Blog Post Free Graphic Organizers Update hero

Use these free graphic organizer templates to help your students communicate more effectively by classifying ideas, structuring writing projects, and more.

Zoe Del Mar
Shaped Executive Editor

Coaching3

What is student-centered coaching? To meet students’ individual needs, teachers may consider coaching that analyzes data and formulates student-centered goals.

Michelle Smith
Professional Services Consultant, HMH

Age of imperalism lesson plans

Use this Age of Imperialism lesson plan to teach students about the actions taken by Europe and the U.S. in the late 19th and early 20th centuries to acquire new territories.

Jordan Friedman
Former Shaped Editor

WF2143668 Hero

Learn about how educators are embracing technology in our 10th annual Educator Confidence Report and how they feel about the current state of education.

John "Jack" Lynch
President, Chief Executive Officer, and Director, HMH

Education Bill of Rights 2

Here’s a taste of what you will learn about more deeply when you attend the Model Schools Conference.

Dr. Linda Lucey
Associate Partner, The Center for Model Schools