Although I don't teach the nominative absolute to 7th graders, the
construction turns up in their writing without their being aware of it.
Examples:
        Lt. Lynn was silent for a while, his forehead wrinkled in deep thought.
        Jack ran into the house, sweat and dirt covering his face.
        The runner sprinted to second base, his spikes kicking up dirt.
        He stood over the body, sword in hand.
        It went farther and farther, the wind carrying it into the stands.
        We were all standing there, guns ready.
        They reached for the knob, hands trembling and legs shaking.
        Jag turned slowly around, his face pale.
        The pilots walked out of the tent, their expresions glum.
        I once heard a conference presenter refer to this construction as the
Noun Part construction. You write a short simple sentence followed by a
comma, then a noun that is a part of the subject (e.g., "forehead" is a
part of Lt. Lynn), followed by a modifier of any kind, long or short. The
fact that the "noun-part" is not grammatically connected with the earlier
part of the sentence but just sort of "stuck on" is the reason it is
called "absolute" (standing alone).

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