The goal I would like to explore is, “Students will be able to orally describe how emotions can not stay inside us and they must be expressed.” I teach 1st grade and my students are still at an age where tears come easily as a response to feeling overwhelmed with emotion. I think tears are a great example of how emotions can not stay on the inside but must come out. I have been spending some time wondering how to assess this goal and various other goals in this unit. Expressing emotions is so personal and it is hard to think of standards every student should meet. For this goal I know I want students to be able to use resources in the lesson to orally explain why emotions can not stay on the inside and must be expressed. Maybe we could get into a circle and pass around our talking stick while discussing how emotions must be expressed. The language demands would be to listen to the lesson, orally describe how emotions must be expressed, and listen to others as they state their answers. I would put the lesson at a depth of knowledge of 2 using the HESS writing-speaking matrix. Students are showing the relationship between emotion and expression and the cause and effect behind certain actions. This lesson would fulfill state standard CH.1.3.4.1: Demonstrate how to express emotions in healthy ways. While unit planning I need to remember to let students take the lead. I want students to take control of their expression and plan opportunities for them to test their ideas. For example I want one lesson to focus on coming up with ways to express emotions. I will then take the student’s ideas and use them to plan for future lessons so that students can practice expressing in the ways they want to.