Running head: EDU 603 FINAL PROJECT 1

EDU 603 Final Project: A Kindergarten Informational Writing Unit

Kayla Agostinelli

Post University

© 2021 Post University, Waterbury, CT

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
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EDU 603 Final Project: Kindergarten Informational Writing Unit

Part I: Educational Philosophy Summary

Objective: The educational philosophy discussed in this executive summary is

existentialism. Existentialism is a curriculum that builds their personality and understanding of

themselves on a deeper level. This philosophy encourages students to explore their identity

through their education rather than going through the motions (Ginny, 2012). This philosophy is

inspired to teach learners how to value the work they are learning and apply it to their daily lives.

Students can have a sense of responsibility and control within their learning/development. There

are many ways to implement this philosophy into your classroom.

Summary of Findings: The Existentialism educational philosophy connects well to the

current state of the learners and the approach to learning within the classroom. According to

Ozturk (2023), he went into detail on existentialism's role in a classroom. Encouraging students

to embrace their uniqueness and connect with their learning personally. Nersin Ozturk

emphasizes how existentialism gives learning power to become more relatable for the students to

connect with. Authors McDonald and Perry (2023) from the agreed that existentialism enriches

learning for the student and creates a positive environment for them to find their own sense of

meaning.

Analysis: The existentialism philosophy can be implemented into a classroom setting

with the freedom of each educator's unique teaching styles. Collaborative active learning can be

beneficial to a student and connects with this theory. These strategies have been found to

encourage strengthening students' independent decisions. This is using critical thinking as well as

problem-solving skills to learn right from wrong (Ozturk, 2023). This can carry into educators

connecting lessons/activities to student’s own experiences and past knowledge. Allowing

students to make those connections to real world examples and use these skills to work their way
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through them. Additionally, educators can give students more responsibility in the classroom to

take initiative with their development. Students will learn to care about their actions and work

more when their learning depends on it (McDonald & Perry, 2023). Good.

Recommendations: Adding the existentialism philosophy can help students create a

meaning of life and positively influence the classroom's dynamic. Students' confidence in their

abilities and optimistic attitude toward their future can result in a positive learning environment.

Students are experiencing learning in a more relatable way, but they are working on their

individual self and becoming the best version of who they can be. This new value of life can

open many doors of opportunity for the students and staff.

Conclusion: In conclusion, existentialist philosophy can create an effective learning

environment for students and educators. This philosophy has the power to push students to grow

past their goals and aspire to become their best. By incorporating collaborative active learning

and problem-solving/critical thinking engaging lesson plans, students will grow as learners and

individuals. It is important to remember the benefits students take from this type of philosophy

and how giving them freedom and responsibility can take them a long way The existentialist

philosophy has the potential to upgrade the whole level of education and the future of student’s

development.

Part II: Rationale of Curriculum

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I have a group of 20 students (ages 5 & 6) in my kindergarten environment. There are 11

girls and 9 boys. I have a group of students with very diverse needs. I have many hands-on

learners and students developing slower than others. These students need extra time or one-on-

one assistance to get through the lesson. My classroom is made of a majority white students who

are from the area. Some of my students struggle with ADD which can make it difficult to keep

their attention. “Attention deficit disorder is a syndrome characterized by serious and persistent

difficulties in the following three specific areas: Attention span, Impulse control, and

Hyperactivity” (Idonline, 2020). I typically like to incorporate hands on learning activities with

lots of materials for these students. This keeps them engaged and attentive. I will use small shape

blocks for students to build off and work with on their desks. There will be shapes such as

triangles, squares, rectangles, and more. I will create worksheets where the students can match

the block to the picture outlined on the paper. Due to all the diverse needs of my students, I will

work in stations for this lesson. I will have different centers that incorporate different inactive

activity for the students to practice learning about their shapes. Students will be able to identify

shapes and understand how to tell them apart from others. Students will also be able to match the

proper shapes to the correct outline. Lastly, students will be able to understand what makes each

shape different and why. I will challenge students to find examples of shapes within their

everyday lives and share it with their classmates. I have made some educational goals for my

students before creating each part of this writing unit. Academically, Students will be able to use

the sight word ‘and’ within a sentence. Students will be working on connecting two ideas with

the word ‘and’ to express their thoughts. Students will be able to confidently and properly use

this sight word to connect two ideas. The first topic students will write about is their weekend

news. Behaviorally, Students will work on organizing their sentence structure to meet their

academic goals. Students will challenge their active listening skills to understand where to add in
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the sight word ‘and’. Students will present the sentences they created to the class. A universal

design learning-based classroom can be very beneficial when working with students and their

unique needs. “The goal of UDL is to use a variety of teaching methods to remove any barriers

to learning and give all students equal opportunities to succeed. It’s about building flexibility that

can be adjusted for all student’s strengths and needs. That’s why UDL benefits all kids” (Morin,

2020). Students will have full range of creativity within this assignment. Whether that starts

with a picture matching their sentence or if feeling comfortable, present them to the classroom.

The educator will create an interactive presentation and lesson plan for students to understand the

assignment and their target goal. I also feel it is important for not only the student to look over

their own work but also the educator to provide feedback on what they did well. Looking more

deeply into the final product of this unit, I see the hard work that I put into meeting all my

students' needs while accomplishing the goals I have made for these students. I had to make

some decisions that were specific to the needs of my classmates and the support they needed to

succeed. I had to sometimes go the untraditional route and work through my days schedule a

little differently.
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Part III: Unit Plan

Stage I

Kindergarten: Writing

Description of unit…

Students are working on writing complete sentences using sight words. Students are
instructed to use their best handwriting to compose complete sentences and then
provide a picture to match their ideas.

STAGE 1- STANDARDS/GOALS
What should students understand, know, and be able to do? Stage one identifies the desired
results of the unit including the related state content standards and expected performances,
enduring understandings, essential questions, knowledge and skills.

Students should be able to understand the sight words that are assigned. Specifically,
‘and’. Students also should practice using words such as first and next to compose their
sentences.

Content Standard(s)

Generalizations about what students should know and be able to do.

Content Standards Primary Expected Performances

“L.60.25 Draw original stories with a Students will compose a writing piece that
beginning, middle and end”(Myra, 2022). includes detail and connects well to the
sentences they created. Student’s will have a
detailed picture with color as well as labels.

“L.60.26 Use early developmental Students will practice breaking down words that
spelling. May use one letter for the initial are complex and using the sounds to complete
or final sound to represent whole word” each word. Making sure they are stretching out
(Myra, 2022). the first sound, middle sound, and end sound.
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“L.48.6 Communicate about current or Students will reflect on ideas learned previously
removed events and/or objects” (Myra, in class or on their own experiences. They will
2022) be practicing reflecting on stored information in
their head and composing sentences.

“L.48.7 Use increasingly longer, complex Students are working on apply sight words as
sentences that combine phrases or well as connecter words, such as first, next, etc,
concepts to communicate ideas” (Myra, to their sentences and ideas.
2022).

Enduring Understandings Essential Questions

Insights learned from exploring
generalizations via the essential
questions (Students will understand Inquiry used to explore generalizations
THAT…)
K-12 enduring understandings are those
understandings that should be developed
over time, they are not expected to be
mastered over one unit or one year.

Overarching Enduring Understandings What do good writers do when they don’t

know how to spell a tricky word?
• We write with different purposes
and different meaning What makes a good kindergarten sentence?
• We are writing to difference What does the sentence have to have?
audiences
• We have the ability to write ________________________________
about all different topics
• Students can connect their What is an example of a descriptive
writing to their artwork sentence about what you did over the
• We all use the same sentence weekend?
structure to compose an
appropriate sentence. What is a good sight word that combines
two thoughts together?

How can we label the picture to match our

sentences?

Unit Specific Enduring Understanding

• Recalling their past actions

• Remembering information
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• We use different connecting

words and sight words when
writing about different things.
• How to compose a picture that
matches our sentences.

Knowledge and Skills

What students are expected to know and be able to do

Knowledge
The students will know…
• How to write complex words through stretching out the first sound, middle sound,
and last sound.
• And understand the importance of drawing the details displayed in the sentences
with detail and color
• The meaning of the sight words and how to apply them
• The basic elements of a sentence (capital letter, period, etc.)

Skills
The students will be able to…
• Reflect on their past knowledge or experiences + recite
• Apply sight and connecting worlds to a sentence
• Draw a picture that matches their ideas in their sentences
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Stage 2

Stage 2 – Assessment Evidence

Performance Task
Through what authentic performance task will students demonstrate the desired
understandings, knowledge, and skills? (describes the learning activity in “story” form.
Typically, the P.T. describes a scenario or situation that requires students to apply knowledge
and skills to demonstrate their understanding in a real life situation. Describe your
performance task scenario below)
By what criteria will performances of understanding be judged?
GRASPS Elements of the Performance Task
G – Goal Goal: • The goal is to create a book about ourselves and to add to our
What should students class library
accomplish by completing
this task? Role: • You as the student are an author in our school library!
R – Role Audience: • The audience is our classroom peers!!
What role (perspective) will Situation: • You have been asked on behalf of Highland Elementary
your students be taking? School to be authors for our newly designed library. Mr. Jeffery (the
A – Audience principal) is looking for books that are about us and can be a part of
Who is the relevant
audience?
the autobiography section of our new library! You need to challenge
your creativity and focus on creating detailed sentences that explain
S – Situation yourself. Dont forget a detailed picture! Product/Performance and
The context or challenge Purpose: • You need to design a 3-page book that explains a little
provided to the student. about yourselves. This includes a sentence on each page and a picture
P – Product, (with color of course)!
Performance Standards & Criteria for Success: • Your writing will include a
What product/performance detailed sentence on each page describing themselves. They will
will the student include a sight word and a detailed picture with color to reflect on
create?
their ideas. The students will be assessed based on the rubric below.
S – Standards &
Criteria for Place your rubric in your appendices following your reference list.
Success
Create the rubric for the
Performance Task
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Other Evidence Student Self-Assessment

Through what other evidence (work How will students reflect upon or self-assess
samples, observations, quizzes, tests, their learning?
journals or other means) will students
demonstrate achievement of the desired
results? Formative and summative
assessments used throughout the unit to
arrive at the outcomes.

Students will be using these short and clear Rubrics and short quizzes will be student
rubrics to collect data on the information friendly and easy to navigate. Students will be
they are learning. A lot of observational able to complete these and have conferences
assessments will be done to see how about their work and growth. They also will
students are doing with this material. have a portfolio that reflects all their
achievements and work samples.
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\
Stage 3

Learning Plan (Stage 3)

Where are your students I will ensure my students are well prepared with the
headed? Where have materials and support they need to complete this unit. I will make
they been? How will you sure they are aware of the objectives and goals we are working
make sure the students toward and how they will impact them in the future. I also will
know where they are connect all my learning topics to real world experiences to ensure
going? they are retaining the information. Students will understand how
they are being evaluated and what they need to do to reach their
goals for this unit. Students will be able to successfully write a
few sentences about their weekend as well as draw a picture that
matches the topic in the sentences. Students will be able to master
all the components of writing a complete sentence and expressing
their thoughts.
How will you hook I will make each part of this unit exciting and engaging. I
students at the beginning will tie all the material back to the students' interests as well as
of the unit? their experiences. As the educator I will make each part of the
lesson fun by having them create sentences about their weekend,
what they love to do, describing themselves, etc. Students will
have freedom in the topics they write about as well as materials
they use for their drawing. We will incorporate a new piece of art
utensil with each different writing piece. For example, crayons,
markers, stamp pens, paint, etc. I will also make sure that all my
students are enjoying the activity and aren't having any trouble
completing their sentences. Offering one on one support or even
partner work might be added to the lesson.
What events will help I will tie each lesson to a real-world experience to connect
students experience and their learning. This will help them make their understanding real.
explore the big idea and I will also provide them all with the proper support to meet their
questions in the unit? individual needs. Whether that is writing out the sentences on a
How will you equip them white board and having them copy them, or sitting with the
with needed skills and student and helping them write down their ideas.
knowledge?
How will you cause After completing the assignment, if there are any errors, as
students to reflect and the educator I will sit down with the student and practice the area
rethink? How will you that they struggled on. Whether that is sentence structure, or
guide them in spelling. This allows the student to be able to reflect and revise
rehearsing, revising, and the work they created.
refining their work?
How will you help I want my students to be responsible in their work and
students to exhibit and actions. I believe it is important for students to understand the
self-evaluate their right and wrong things to do as well as how to fix them.
growing skills, Selfassessment is a great way for students to recognize their
knowledge, and specific objectives and see areas they need to approve in. I
understanding personally think for this young of an age group, a self-assessment
throughout the unit? or observation would be two good ways to evaluate a student's
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performance. A small, to the point rubric will be clear for the

students to understand what they missed in their writing piece
and what they completed properly.
How will you tailor and I will first make sure that I am aware of all my students’
otherwise personalize individual needs. I will then make sure there is enough staff
the learning plan to support in my room to meet the students who need one on one
optimize the engagement support. I will also provide whiteboards to the students who need
and effectiveness of ALL help writing and copying their sentences. I will also provide
students, without different support materials such as an example of the letters in the
compromising the goals alphabet to give them a visual of each of the letters.
of the unit?
How will you organize I will provide my students with a clear poster that will be
and sequence the presented in the front of the room. This will be a visual for
learning activities to students to identify what they need to complete and make sure
optimize the engagement they met all the key points in the assignment. Here is an example
and achievement of ALL below.
students?

# Lesson Lesson Activities WHERE Resources

Title TO
1 What is a Students will work together on the W,T Students will be
cite word carpet to learn about sight words and watching a few
& why are their importance. This lesson will be educational
they conducted as a group and then sent YouTube videos
important? off to independent reading where they on the role of
will be on a search for the words they each cite word.
just learned. Then they will
be off to
independent
reading.
2 Let’s Students will receive a paper with W, O Pencil, lined
practice!! lines they need to practice writing the paper, sight
proper letter sizes and neatly in the words on the
lines. board to view
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3 Sentence Students will be taught the W, H Students will

workshop importance of following the steps to watch
build a sentence. This will start with a educational
capital letter and period at the end. videos on the
board and use
their alphabet
chart to sound
out the word.
4 ABC’s Students will practice the sounds of T, W This will
each letter and the correct format to encourage the
write them. students to grab
whiteboards for
them to quickly
write the letter
and hold it up
for the teacher
can see.
5 Epic! Students will use epic, the online T, O, E, Velcro sight
reading tool, to practice reading H words, ipads
books in their reading level. They
will need to identify any sight words
they see. A list will be presented on
the board. They will have small
pieces of paper that each have a sight
word on it. They will use the Velcro
to stick the word they have found to
the top of their desk. They will then
share at the end of reading the sight
words they discovered.
6 Let's use Students will practice combining two T, H They will need a
the sight ideas with the sight word ‘and’. lined piece of
words!! paper and a
pencil. The sight
word will be
written on the
board.
7 Let’s get Students will practice reading an idea T, O, H Students will
creative! and then drawing a picture to use crayons,
represent the sentence ideas. They markers, etc, to
will work on identifying the ideas and create a colorful
then drawing details such as people, picture on the
setting, and more. ideas.
8+9 Students will practice writing about H, E, O Lined paper,
Weekend their weekend news. They will need pencil, example
news!! to practice writing one sentence. of guild lines on
They need to use the sight word ‘and’ the board.
as well as draw a picture.
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10+11 Let's Students will receive feedback from R, O Correcting pen,

review and their educator and be able to go back pencil, new
edit and revise. This step is extremely piece of paper
important to learners who need one
on one support.
12 Self-assess Students will use self-assessment to R Piece of work
evaluate themselves on their
sentences. For example, giving
themself a star if they added a capital
letter or period to their work
13 Share to Students will take turns sharing their H, E Students sample
the class writing on their weekend news. Three piece
students will share their sentences
and picture each morning in our class
meeting.
14+15 Let's write Students will then work on writing at H, E, T, Lined paper,
about least two- three sentences themselves. O pencil, coloring
ourselves This will be short sentences still materials.
involving the sight word ‘and’. They
will create a two-three-page book at
the end where they write one
sentence on each page and then draw
a picture to correspond to the ideas.
Students will be writing about their
interests, characteristics, and more.
They will write sentences the proper
kindergarten way and focus on their
picture and what it resembles.
16 Talk about Students will have a conference with R, E
their work their teacher on their sentence
a teacher structures and how well their picture
connects to their sentences

17 Self-assess Students will use rubric and go E, O Thier work as

through their work and give well rubric sheet
themselves a star on the aspects of the
assignment they mastered.
18 Correct Students will make edits to their work E, E, T Their piece of
their work! based on the edits the teacher made. work and a
pencil + eraser
19 Rewrite!! Students will reorganize and rewrite W, E, R Their piece of
their sentences based on the edits work, a new
they have made from both colorful piece of
assessments construction
paper, +
markers,
crayons, colored
pencils.
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20 Sharing Students will be able to share to their H, O

their work classmates the sentences they wrote
as well as their picture.
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Checking for UDL Principles

Assess and Reflect (Stage 4)

Considerations Comments
Required Areas of Study:
Is there alignment between I believe there is a connection between these three aspects of learning,
outcomes, performance outcomes, performance assessments, and learning experiences. I feel that they
assessment and learning all relate to each other and all play factors in a student's overall development.
experiences? It all starts with the students being active and engaged within a lesson. That
was my main goal when creating this set of lessons for this writing unit. I
believe on making learning fun and exciting, which will then grab the
students' attention and increase the amount of information they retain. That
leads into the aspect of performance assessment and their learning. It is
important to actively evaluate but not in a threatening or scary way. These
students are young and nervous energy can affect the way they perform. It is
important to keep this in mind and make sure these assessments are fun and
upbeat but also effective.

Adaptive Dimension: For struggling students:

Have I made purposeful
adjustments to the
curriculum content (not • One on one support from the teacher
outcomes), instructional o Write out the sentences below the lines for the students to
practices, and/or the practice expressing ideas as well as writing the letters with an
learning environment to example.
meet the learning needs and • Small groups work with other students who are struggling with the
diversities of all my same aspect of the lesson.
students? • Technology application on Ipad that helps them express their thoughts
by writing instead of on paper.
• Extra sentence creation sheet to practice with
• Working with a student who is more advanced in writing and can
support the other student on a more friendly basis.

For students who need a challenge:

• Working to support a friend struggling to create sentences.

• Writing more sentences within the weekend news or own writing
piece.
• Can be challenged to use more than one sight word!

Instructional Approaches:
Do I use a variety of teacher I did use a lot of teachers directed and student-centered instructional
directed and student approaches. I felt that I used a balanced amount of both of these approaches
centered instructional on learning. These aspects of learning both have a great influence on the
approaches? success of my students and their development. I incorporated some group
work sessions which the educator was leading, and the students were being
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introduced to the information. Also, I added independent and group work

where the students challenged their learning and applied it.
Resource Based Learning:
Do the students have access The students do have access to many different resources and mateirals to
to various resources on an benefit their learning as discussed above, I incorporated a lot of great
ongoing basis? technology applications as well as worksheets/handouts that can benefit their
writing growth. I also provided them with many different materials to explore
in the classroom, which can add to the success of their assignments.

FNM/I Content and

Perspectives/Gender With a classroom full of many unique needs, I felt that my lessons needed to
Equity/Multicultural tailor to a broader classroom so all students could feel able to participate as
Education: well as grow as a writer. I made sure to tailor parts of my lesson to my
Have I nurtured and students who might need a more visual idea of the learning or one on one
promoted diversity while support. I felt that I promoted each student’s identity and also allowed them to
honoring each child’s explore themselves and their writing abilities.
identity?
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References

About Universal Design for Learning - CAST. (2024, March 28). CAST.

https://www.cast.org/impact/universal-design-for-learning-udl

Alnahdi, G. (2014). Assistive technology in special education and the universal design for

learning. The Turkish Online Journal of Educational Technology, 13, (2), 18-34.

Daizeabdao, V. a. P. B. (2015, July 22). Traditional vs. Authentic Assessment. Principles and

Methods of Assessment. https://abdao.wordpress.com/2015/07/18/traditional-vs-

authentic-assessment/

Huff, D. (2009, December 30). Understanding by design: Essential questions. huffenglish.com.

https://www.huffenglish.com/understanding-by-design-essential-questions/

Idonline. (2020). Teaching Children with Attention Deficit Disorder/Attention Deficit

Hyperactivity Disorder (ADD/ADHD). LD OnLine. https://www.ldonline.org/ld-

topics/classroom-management/teaching-children-attention-deficit-disorderattention-

deficit

Morin. Universal Design for Learning (UDL): What you need to know | Reading Rockets.

(2020). Reading Rockets. https://www.readingrockets.org/topics/assistive-

technology/articles/universal-design-learning-udl-what-you-need-

know#:~:text=The%20goal%20of%20UDL%20is,every%20student's%20strengths%20a

nd%20needs

Myra, Connecticut Early Childhood Education Cabinet, Leah Grenier, Andrea Wadowski,

Connecticut State Department of Education, & EASTCONN Communications. (2022).

Connecticut’s early learning and development standards. https://www.ctoec.org/wp-

content/uploads/2019/12/CT-ELDS-Main-2014.pdf
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Nebel, C. (2023, September 18). Behaviorism in the classroom — the learning scientists. The

Learning Scientists. https://www.learningscientists.org/blog/2017/8/10-1

Shea, A. A. (2021, July 13). Teaching young students how to reflect on their learning. Edutopia.

https://www.edutopia.org/article/teaching-young-students-how-reflect-their-learning/

Understood for All Inc. (n.d.). Universal Design for Learning (UDL): A teacher’s guide.

Understood. https://www.understood.org/en/articles/understanding-universal-design-for-

learning?utm_source=google&utm_medium=cpc&utm_term=universal+design+for+lear

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Sb9LOi_QIVBEZyCh3dgwF2EAMYASAAEgJd7PD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds
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Appendices A

Student Self Rubric!

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Appendix B

Teacher Rubric for Student

Appendix C

Writing News Worksheet

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Appendix D

Example of Student Learning Profile

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Appendix E

Planning Pyramid
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All students will know:

• To add a period at the end of a sentence
• Recite their past actions and experiences
• Draw a picture related to information in sentences

Most students will know:

• Add color to their drawing
• Use a capital letter
• How to stretch out a word and its sounds
• Properly space out words on the lines
• Compose a sentence using the sight word ‘and’

Some students will know:

• Understand how to use the lines on the paper
• Use descriptive words
• Use the appropriate letter for the sounds of the word
• Connect ideas using connecting words such as first, next, then, etc

Questions:
When faced with learners who are challenging composing sentences, what are some
tips I can use to help them reach the high level of understanding?

What is one way that I encourage the students to connect the ideas in their sentences
to their drawing?