Unit: Mud Toys

National Standards for Visual Arts
Content Standard #1: Understanding and applying media, techniques, and processes  

Content Standard #3: Choosing and evaluating a range of subject matter, symbols, and ideas 

Content Standard #4: Understanding the visual arts in relation to history and cultures  

Content Standard #5: Reflecting upon and assessing the characteristics and merits of their work and the work of others  

Common Core English Language Arts Standards                                                                     

Anchor Standards for Reading K-12

Key Ideas and details:

• Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. 

Integration of Knowledge and Ideas:

• Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse media and formats, including visually and quantitatively, as well as in words. 

Anchor Standards for Writing K-12

Text Types and Purposes:

• Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content.

Production and Distribution of Writing

• Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience 
• Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others

Research to Build and Present Knowledge

• Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation.
• Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism.

National Thematic Standards for Social Studies K-12

#2 Culture: Learners will understand how human beings create, learn share and adapt to culture. They will appreciate their role of culture in shaping their lives and the society in which they live. By recognizing various cultural perspectives, learners become capable of understanding diverse perspectives, thereby acquiring the potential to foster more positive relations and interactions with diverse people within our own nation and other nations. Cultural understanding will help learners make informed decisions in an increasingly interdependent society and interconnected world.

#4 Individual Development and Identity: Personal identity is shaped by family peers, culture, and institutional influences. In order to understand individual development of identity, learners should study the influence of various times, cultures, groups, and institutions. The examination of various forms of human behavior in specific cultural contexts enhances the understanding of the relationships between social norms and emerging personal identities, of the social processes that influence identity formation, and of the ethical and other principles underlying individual action

#7 Production, Distribution, and Consumption: Scarcity and unequal distribution of resources dictate the need for economic systems of exchange including trade, to improve the well being of the economy. The role of government in different economic systems varies over time and from place to place, resulting in diverse economic policies. Increasingly, economic decisions are global in scope and require systematic study of an interdependent world economy. A variety of systems have been developed to decide the answers to fundamental questions related to what is to be produced, how production is to be organized, and how goods and services are to be distributed.