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K–12 teaching and learning · from the UNC School of Education

Cloudy with a chance of... what?

Students will enjoy reading about a town where no one ever goes hungry because the sky provides food while learning about weather and healthy and unhealthy foods.

A lesson plan for grades 2–3 English Language Arts, Healthful Living, and Science

By BJ Larson and Paula Sharpe

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Learning outcomes

Students will be able to:

  • determine which foods are unhealthy and which foods are part of a healthy diet.
  • select and use relevant information for discussion, further reading, writing, or a follow-up task
  • demonstrate an understanding of the steps in the water cycle.

Teacher planning

Time required for lesson

One to three weeks

Materials/resources

Technology resources

Handouts

Questions for discussion
Students answer these questions while reading the story.
Open as PDF (9 KB, 1 page)

Pre-activities

Prior knowledge

Students should be familiar with:

  • the concept of story mapping that includes the beginning, middle, and ending.
  • compound words.

Activities

Before reading

  1. Preview and predict by looking at cover of book. Ask: Why is the older man holding a plate and utensils with this umbrella?
  2. Review the vocabulary listed in the Critical Vocabulary section below.
  3. Review what compound words are with the students.

Directed Reading

  1. Give students the Questions for Discussion handout to think about while reading.
  2. Read Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs out loud to the class. While reading, interrupt periodically to see if students are following along with events.
  3. After reading, ask the following questions:
    • Where is Chewandswallow located? (across an ocean, over lots of huge bumpy mountains, across three hot deserts, and one smaller ocean)
    • What did the people do with the leftovers? Why? (took them home and put them in their refrigerators in case they got hungry between meals)
    • Discuss the different things that came out of the sky. (soup, juice, mashed potatoes, green peas, hamburgers, brussels sprouts, peanut butter, broccoli, cheese, tomatoes, and meatballs)
    • What actually falls from the sky? Explain the different forms of precipitation.
  4. Briefly explain to students that water that falls from the sky can change from a liquid to a solid:
    • sleet: water droplets that fall from the atmosphere and freeze into ice pellets before hitting the earth
    • hail: frozen water droplets that grow larger while being held inside a cloud by strong updrafts
    • rain: water droplets that fall from the atmosphere to the earth
    • freezing rain: water droplets that come from the atmosphere to the earth
    • snow: ice crystals that leave the cloud and do not melt before hitting the earth
    • atmosphere: the layer of air that surrounds the earth
    • precipitation: any form of water that falls to the earth from the atmosphere
  5. Explain the water cycle: the process of melting, precipitation, evaporation, condensation, and erosion. If you have access to the BrainPop website, in the science section there is a movie on the watercycle you can watch with students.
  6. Show the students how to play the Droplet and the Water Cycle game on NASA’s For Kids Only Earth Science Enterprise website.
  7. In the book, a reference is made to the Sanitation Department cleaning up after meals. Ask the students, what do they think the author is saying about people’s responsibility toward their environment?

Comprehension Skill

  1. Set up a T-chart with one column labeled “Cause” and the other one labeled “Effect.” Have students identify cause and effect with examples from the story. First one is modeled by the teacher:
    • Cause: A big pancake fell on the school
    • Effect: School was closed
    • Cause: Too much spaghetti fell on the town.
    • Effect: ?
    • Cause: The townspeople ate too much cream cheese and jelly sandwiches.
    • Effect: ?
    • Cause: There was a pepper storm.
    • Effect: ?
  2. In the concluding discussion, ask:
    • What caused the people of Chewandswallow to leave the town? (stomach aches, sneezing, the town was a mess)
    • Is the story fiction or non-fiction? (fiction)
    • Are there any parts that stuck out in your mind as something you really liked or would like to change? Any parts you did not like how would you change to make them more to your likely?

Nutrition activity

  1. In the town of Chewandswallow, the people did not have to decide what to eat for their meals. All of their food came from the sky and they had to eat what the weather brought to them. You have to make choices many times a day about what to eat. Do you know what kinds of food to choose to keep your body healthy? See the USDA website to download a MyPlate poster. Tell students the object of the plate is to show the guidelines of what foods are healthy.
  2. Have students compare healthy foods to the foods that were eaten in Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs. Ask:
    • Which one is the better example of how we should eat? Why?
    • What is the story lacking that is essential to a good diet?
    • When the townspeople traveled to the other town, do you think that they will eat better foods, or will continue to eat the same things that fell from their sky? Why or Why not?

Writing Activity Prompt

Reread the part of the book where people carried cutlery and dinnerware whenever they went out. Have students write about an imaginary town where odd things rain from the sky using the writing prompt below. Teach-nology has a sample writing rubric you may wish to use for evaluation.

Write about an imaginary town where odd things fall from the sky. Compose a story with a clear beginning, middle, and end. Remember to elaborate by using vivid verbs, sensory words, descriptive adjectives. Begin with a hook sentence and tell the events in order with a concluding statement related to the topic.

Homework Activity

  1. Have the students plan their ideal weather for a day in the town of Chewandswallow and make a forecast for a meal. Have them write as if they are a professional weather forecaster. You might recommend that they watch the news for the weather report on television to get some ideas for their writing. For example:

    “Weather Forecast For October 15, 2002 by Meteorologist BJ Larson

    Today we will be seeing some strong weather systems from the South bringing us a 90% chance of fried chicken and okra. Expect some accumulation of the okra. The high should be around 55 degrees with a low of 15 degrees.”

  2. You may wish to use this homework rubric from Teach-nology.
  3. Closure questions:
    • Could it ever rain meatballs? How about pancakes?
    • Is this story fiction or non-fiction? Is it fact or opinion?
    • What is the theme of the story?
    • Why do we do story-mapping?
    • What foods do you need to eat every day?
    • Would you want your friends to read this book? Why or Why not?

Assessment

Critical vocabulary

sleet
water droplets that fall from the atmosphere and freeze into ice pellets before hitting the earth
hail
frozen water droplets that grow larger while being held inside a cloud by strong updrafts
rain
water droplets that fall from the atmosphere to the earth
freezing rain
water droplets that come from the atmosphere to the earth
snow
ice crystals that leave the cloud and do not melt before hitting the earth
atmosphere
the layer of air that surrounds the earth
precipitation
any form of water that falls to the earth from the atmosphere

North Carolina curriculum alignment

English Language Arts (2004)

Grade 2

  • Goal 2: The learner will develop and apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.

Grade 3

  • Goal 2: The learner will apply strategies and skills to comprehend text that is read, heard, and viewed.
    • Objective 2.02: Interact with the text before, during, and after reading, listening, or viewing by:
      • setting a purpose.
      • previewing the text.
      • making predictions.
      • asking questions.
      • locating information for specific purposes.
      • making connections.
      • using story structure and text organization to comprehend.

Healthful Living Education (2006)

Grade 2

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply knowledge and behavior self management skills to areas of nutrition and physical activity for healthy growth, development, and maintenance.
    • Objective 4.01: Identify the amount of food from each food group of My Pyramid needed each day to achieve and maintain good health.
    • Objective 4.02: Summarize the benefits of healthy eating.

Grade 3

  • Goal 4: The learner will apply knowledge and behavior self management skills to areas of nutrition and physical activity for healthy growth, development, and maintenance.
    • Objective 4.05: Differentiate between a portion and a serving and explain how to plan meals and snacks using appropriate portion sizes.

Science (2005)

Grade 2

  • Goal 2: The learner will conduct investigations and use appropriate tools to build an understanding of the changes in weather.
    • Objective 2.06: Observe and record weather changes over time and relate to time of day and time of year.

  • Common Core State Standards

    • English Language Arts (2010)

      • Reading: Literature

        • Grade 2
          • 2.RL.1 Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.
        • Grade 3
          • 3.RL.1 Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

  • North Carolina Essential Standards

    • Healthful Living (2010)

      • Grade 2

        • 2.NPA.1 Understand MyPyramid as a tool for selecting nutritious foods. 2.NPA.1.1 Recognize the interrelationship of parts of My Pyramid. 2.NPA.1.2 Plan meals that are chosen for energy and health. 2.NPA.1.3 Classify activities in terms of their appropriateness...
        • 2.NPA.2 Understand the importance of consuming a variety of nutrient dense foods and beverages in moderation. 2.NPA.2.1 Summarize motivations for eating food, including hunger vs. satiety. 2.NPA.2.2 Explain the importance of a healthy breakfast and lunch....

      • Grade 3

        • 3.NPA.1 Apply tools (MyPyramid, Food Facts Label) to plan healthy nutrition and fitness. 3.NPA.1.1 Use MyPyramid to eat a nutritious breakfast each morning. 3.NPA.1.2 Check the Food Facts Label to determine foods that are low in sugar and high in calcium....
        • 3.NPA.2Understand the importance of consuming a variety of nutrient dense foods and beverages in moderation. 3.NPA.2.1 Identify the sources of a variety of foods. 3.NPA.2.2 Categorize beverages that are more nutrient dense. 3.NPA.2.3 Recognize appropriate...

    • Science (2010)

      • Grade 2

        • 2.E.1 Understand patterns of weather and factors that affect weather. 2.E.1.1 Summarize how energy from the sun serves as a source of light that warms the land, air and water. 2.E.1.2 Summarize weather conditions using qualitative and quantitative measures...