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.

Life Science

Animal Group Survival: Third Grade Teaching Ideas

Teaching third graders about animal group survival is one of those topics that students instantly connect with. The moment you mention wolves hunting together or bees working in a hive,…

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Earth Science

Weather Vocabulary Activities That Actually Stick (and Don’t Feel Like Test Prep)

If you’ve ever taught a weather unit and felt like students could recognize words like evaporation or precipitation, but couldn’t actually use them, you’re not alone. Finding effective weather vocabulary…

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Science

Science Vocabulary Activities for the Elementary Classroom

Science vocabulary cards are one of those simple tools that can do a lot of heavy lifting in your classroom. Whether you’re teaching life science, earth science, or physical science,…

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Science | Social Studies | Writing

100+ Research Topics for Elementary Students: Animals, Biographies & Science

Helping students choose a research topic can be one of the trickiest parts of a classroom research project, especially when you’re trying to provide meaningful research topics for students that…

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Earth Science

Weather and Climate Science Activities for Upper Elementary

Teaching weather and climate can feel like juggling clouds, maps, and vocabulary cards all at once. Students mix up weather and climate, forget the water cycle details, and somehow every…

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Early Reading

Free CVC Worksheets PDF for Kindergarten and First Grade

If you’ve ever searched for free CVC worksheets PDF at 9:30pm while sipping cold coffee… you’re in good company. CVC words are one of those foundational skills that need a…

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Math

Word Problems in Math: Strategies, Types, and How to Teach Them

If you’ve ever read a student’s solution to a word problem and thought, “Wait… how did you even get that answer?”—you’re not alone. Word problems have a way of turning…

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Early Reading

R Blends Worksheets, Activities, and Word Lists for First Grade (Free PDF)

If you’re looking for r blends worksheets, this is the place for you! R blends can be tricky for early readers because students need to say both sounds together without…

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Reading Comprehension

Compare and Contrast Examples for Students: Sentences, Paragraphs, and Essays

Compare and contrast examples for students show what this type of writing actually looks like in practice. Understanding the skill is one thing; seeing a finished sentence, paragraph, or essay…

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Writing

2nd Grade How To Writing Prompts: Step-by-Step Ideas

Teaching second graders how to write clear instructions can feel a little like herding cats… with pencils. Students often think they explained everything, but somehow the reader is left wondering…

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Reading Comprehension

Compare and Contrast 2nd Grade and 3rd Grade Activities, Worksheets, and Lesson Plans

Teaching students how to compare and contrast in 2nd grade and 3rd grade is one of those skills that shows up everywhere, from reading comprehension to science discussions and even…

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Instructional Strategies

Give One, Get One Cooperative Learning Strategy

The Give One, Get One strategy is a cooperative learning activity where students share an idea with a partner and collect a new idea in return. Students begin by writing…

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