Text: Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs Author: Judi Barrett Genre: Fiction
Learning Goals: Language Arts or Content Area
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The students will understand how the weather impacted the town of Chew and Swallow. (cause/effect)
Before reading:
Build background knowledge: none needed
Introduce story vocabulary: damaged; abandoned; supplied
Set purpose: This week we’ve learned that some storms can be dangerous. As I read this story I want you to listen to how the weather impacted the town of
Chew and Swallow.
During reading:
Teaching Points/Questions:
Page #3-How can the illustration on page 2 help the reader understand what actually caused the pancake to land on Henry’s head? (the picture shows the animals running through the kitchen which caused Grandpa to flip his spatula)
Page #7-According to Grandpa’s tale, how did the town of Chew and Swallow differ from an ordinary town? (there were no food stores- the weather was different- everything that everyone ate came from the sky)
Page #11- How were the lives of the citizens of Chew and Swallow affected by the weather? (they depended on the weather to provide them food- they had to eat whatever rained down from the sky)
Page #15- What clues or evidence from this page lead us to believe that the
Sanitation Department wanted to make good use of the resources and not be wasteful? (they gave leftovers to dogs and cats, emptied into oceans for fish and turtles, and put back into earth to make rich soil for flower gardens)
Page #17-What sentence/words does the author use to show that things are about to change in the town of Chew and Swallow? (the weather took a turn for the worse) or after page 16, Why does the author state that the weather took a turn for the worse? (to show that something bad is about to happen)
Page #21-The town experienced a “hurricane of bread and rolls, a storm of pancakes and downpour of maple syrup, drifts of cream cheese, and a tomato tornado.” Why do you think the author chose real types of storms to describe this change in the weather? (these are all violent or rough storms and it makes it seem more severe)

Page #23-What prompted or caused the citizens to abandon the town of Chew and Swallow? (they feared for their lives, the houses had been damaged and the stores were boarded up and the school was closed)
Page #27-What evidence does the author use to describe how life in the new town was ordinary or more normal than before? (they had food stores in which they shopped for their food, the children went to school, nothing came down from the sky except for rain and snow)
Page #29- How can you tell that Grandpa’s story had an impact on the kids?
(when they saw the sun peek over the hill, they imagined a giant pat of butter and said they could almost smell mashed potatoes)
After reading:
Comprehension focus: How did the weather impact life in the town of Chew and
Swallow? (it determined what food they ate, when the weather turned violent, it forced the schools to close and eventually caused the people to abandon the town)
Vocabulary review: _Review the words introduced at the beginning of the lesson and have students provide a sentence using each one in the context of the story.