Shaped

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

 

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9/11 Activities for Elementary Students

How do you teach younger students about the September 11, 2001 attacks and their impact? We've got you covered with these 9/11 activities for elementary school.

Brenda Iasevoli
Shaped Executive Editor

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Mayan Pyramids vs. Egyptian Pyramids Lesson Plan Idea

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

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Free Teaching Resources: Fun Classroom Activities and Lesson Plan Ideas

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

Black Lives Matter Tyrone Howard

Teaching Civics Education in a Time of Change: Q&A With Emma Humphries of iCivics

Here’s how educators and parents can start a dialogue with kids about racism and social justice in the wake of the one-year anniversary of George Floyd’s murder at the hands of police.

Shaped Staff

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5 Ways to Teach Controversial Issues in Class

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

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6 Presidents' Day Bulletin Board Ideas for Teachers

Check out these six Presidents' Day bulletin board ideas created by teachers to get your students learning about American presidents.

Alicia Ivory
Shaped Editor

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Teaching Impeachment in the Classroom: Q&A With Emma Humphries of iCivics

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

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How to Teach a Contested Election and Prioritize Students' Emotional Health

Chris Dier provides five ideas for educators to explore the election with students while ensuring their social and emotional health.

Chris Dier
2020 Louisiana State Teacher of the Year

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Free History and Social Studies Activities for Middle School

Allow your middle schoolers to explore the past with these social studies activities and lessons covering topics ranging from U.S. Supreme Court cases to ancient civilizations.

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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

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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

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Free High School World History Lesson Plans and Activities

From the Renaissance to the Reformation, these world history lessons for high school students can help your students better understand how the past has shaped the present.

Shaped Staff

History activities

High School History Lesson Plans and Activities

Give students a better understanding of our global society with these high school world history and American history lesson plan ideas and activities.

Shaped Staff

American history lessons

Free High School American History Lesson Plans and Activities

These high school American history lesson plans will help your students understand the importance of learning from the past in order to build a better future.

Shaped Staff

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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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7 Culturally Responsive Teaching Strategies and Instructional Practices

Implement these culturally responsive teaching strategies and instruction practices in the classroom to help students feel included, validated, valued, and safe.

Dr. Tyrone C. Howard
Professor, UCLA; Senior Fellow, The Center for Model Schools; HMH Learning Sciences & Research Advisory Board

David oconnor

Don't Just Teach About Cultures—Teach Culturally. Here's the Difference

Teaching culturally means that the educator acts as a guide for students and is actively learning alongside them in their understanding of the content.

David J. O’Connor
American Indian Studies Consultant, Wisconsin Department of Public Instruction

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Overwhelmed by News: Helping Students See the Bigger Picture

In an era of information overload, follow these tips to help your students prepare for reading and analyzing the news.

Erik Palmer
Program Consultant, Into Reading and Into Literature

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