Not ALL content standards are taught in EVERY UNIT.  Some educators believe that they must teach all the standards within every unit, but that is not a good way to plan a unit.  Some standards fit certain themes naturally.  Trying to place all the standards into every theme would require that you stretch the theme beyond feasibility, and would eventually eradicate the purpose of teaching through a theme, anyway.  Just know that if you teach several thematic units over the course of a school year, you will have an opportunity to present a variety of themes, and that if a particular group of standards does not fit one theme, it will fit another.  In some cases, you may need to simply teach some content/skills separately.  That's OK!

Some themes naturally lend themselves more to the math and science standards, while others lean more toward the social studies.  Some themes will be more centered on one area of social studies than another.  For example, on the theme of Hurricane Katrina, a natural fit in social studies will be standards related to local history, state history, U. S. History, European History, and some areas of World History, as well as the areas of geography.  However, it may be a bit of a stretch to try to connect ancient Mongolian history, for example.  That is not taught at every grade level anyway.

Recommendation -  select a theme, such as Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath.  Then brainstorm the theme by creating a Concept Map.  Do NOT worry about your state or national standards at this point!  After you have completed the concept map (a must!) and your PowerPoint (a good thing to do also), you can take a look at your standards.  You will be amazed at how many of them are already there!  See the links below for information on how to proceed on designing and delivering a powerful unit that will exceed your standards!

Below is the list of state standards categories listed at MCREL.ORG, with links to each.   Also see our page on Curriculum Design which has links to selecting a Theme, Brainstorming your Theme, Sample Units, Unit Design Tools and much more.  Also see our developing on Hurricane Katrina and its Aftermath. 

You may view of compendium of all state standards at MCREL.org.  This is a convenient way to view all the content standards when designing a unit, and checking for which standards may be incorporated within a particular theme.

A Compendium of State Standards

Easily taught within Katrina theme?
yes	Arts
Yes		Art Connections
Yes		Dance
Yes		Music
Yes		Theatre
Yes		Visual Arts
Yes	Behavioral Studies
Yes	Civics
Yes	Economics
Yes	Foreign Language
Yes	Geography
Yes	Health
	History
Yes		Grades K-4 History
Yes		Historical Understanding
Yes		United States History
Yes		World History
Yes	Language Arts
	Life Skills
Yes		Life Work
Yes		Self-Regulation
Yes		Thinking and Reasoning
Yes		Working With Others
Yes	Mathematics
Yes	Physical Education
Yes	Science
Yes	Technology