Author: Jessica Boschen

Jessica shares her passion for teaching and education on What I Have Learned. Jessica has 16 years of elementary teaching experience and currently homeschools her two middle school boys. She enjoys scaffolding learning for students, focusing on helping our most challenging learners achieve success in all academic areas.

Early Reading

How to Teach Phonics with Your Grade-Level Team

Working with other teachers is hard. No doubt about it. You all have different teaching styles and viewpoints on what is important and how to teach it. When teaching phonics,…

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Early Reading

Why do we teach nonsense words? It doesn’t make sense.

Do you teach and assess nonsense words? Do you know why you do it? There’s a reason why we teach these types of non-words in schools. In fact, teaching…

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Math | Differentiation | English Learners

Effectively Use Sentence Frames in Math to Help Students Explain their Thinking

Do your students struggle to express their thinking in math? Mine do! Developing students’ language skills by focusing on mathematical vocabulary and using sentence frames in math helps students learn the language…

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Writing

Informational Writing Week 4: Using Checklists to Revise Writing

As students begin writing more independently, they need clear guidance on what to improve and how to improve it. During Week 4 of our informational writing unit, the instructional focus…

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Writing

Informational Writing Week 5: Organizing Facts Around a Concept

As students prepare for more independent informational writing, they need opportunities to organize facts around a clear idea rather than just a specific animal. During Week 5 of our informational…

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Writing

Informational Writing Week 3: Finding and Ordering Related Facts

One of the biggest challenges students face in informational writing is keeping their paragraph focused. Even when students have strong facts, they often include unrelated details or struggle to decide…

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Math

Multi-Digit Addition Strategies for Grades 2-4

When teaching your students how to solve multi-digit addition problems, providing them with various place-value strategies is important. This will not only help students find the best method for them,…

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Writing

Informational Writing Week 2: Introducing the Topic in Second Grade

Writing an introduction is one of the hardest parts of informational writing for young students. Many students jump straight into facts without telling the reader what the paragraph will be…

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Writing

Informational Writing Week 1: Setting the Routine in Second Grade

At the start of our informational writing unit, I focus on helping students understand the routine we will use throughout the unit. This first week is less about writing independently…

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Instructional Strategies

Using QR Codes in the Classroom: 14 QR Code Ideas for Elementary Teachers

If you’re picturing QR codes as one more tech thing to manage, stick with me for a minute. Using QR codes in the classroom is less about flashy gadgets and…

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Math

Why I Teach Students Multiple Strategies to Solve Math Problems

I am a big proponent of teaching students multiple strategies to solve problems and letting students choose the best strategy that works for them. I love it when students can take…

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Winter | Social Studies

Free Martin Luther King Jr. Ideas for the Classroom

FREE Martin Luther King Jr. Ideas for the elementary classroom! I love teaching about Martin Luther King Jr.: I get to introduce my students to a great person in our nation’s history, and it kicks off our biography units. I always model reading and writing a biography by writing one about Martin Luther King Jr.

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