Texas TEKS 3.12
The Standard
The student understands the importance of writers and artists to the cultural heritage of communities. The student is expected to identify how various writers and artists such as Kadir Nelson, Tomie dePaola, Carmen Lomas Garza, and Laura Ingalls Wilder and their stories, poems, statues, and paintings contribute to the cultural heritage of communities.
Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills for Social Studies
Teacher's field guide
What This Standard Means
What Students Need to Do
- Students connect writers and artists to works they created. They explain how stories, poems, paintings, and statues preserve community traditions, memories, and experiences.
What Mastery Looks Like
- Given a studied excerpt or artwork, students identify its creator and describe what it shows about a community. They explain how the work passes culture to others.
Common Misconceptions
- Students may think cultural heritage means only holidays, food, or old objects. They may confuse a creator with a character or subject. Some describe a work without explaining what it preserves about a community.
How to Assess It
- Show Carmen Lomas Garza’s painting Tamalada. Ask students to write, “What tradition is shown, and how does this painting help pass it on?”
Lesson moves
Ways to Teach It
Give pairs creator cards, artwork images, and short excerpts to match, then add a note explaining the community story each work preserves.
Read a page by Laura Ingalls Wilder and ask, “What does this scene teach us about life in her community?”
Play a clue-card game where teams identify Kadir Nelson, Tomie dePaola, Carmen Lomas Garza, or Laura Ingalls Wilder and explain each clue.
Show photos of a local mural or statue, then have students interview a family member about the community story it tells.
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Printable 3.12 Worksheet
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Related Standards
- 8.26
Culture. The student understands the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created. The student is expected to:
- 3.11
Culture. The student understands the role of heroes in shaping the culture of communities, the state, and the nation. The student is expected to:
- 1.14
Culture. The student understands the importance of family and community beliefs, language, and traditions. The student is expected to:
- 5.20
Culture. The student understands the relationship between the arts and the times during which they were created. The student is expected to:
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