Another hint is to remind students how to look at almost any quilt block as a set of components that are in themselves quite simple. For example, the carpenter's wheel is simply a bunch of HST with a few solid blocks. That's where to start, ONE section that is a simple HST.
Also, perhaps, how to convert a fairly simple block of HST to a much more complex looking log cabin blocks. I've done this quite often with baby quilts. Quite simply, if you can make a log cabin block, you can do this easily.