Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett is about life in the wonderful town of Chewandswallow. Instead of snow, wind, or rain, they get a different kind of weather that falls from the sky three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. The only bad part about living in Chewandswallow is that the people don't get their choice of what they'd like to fall from the sky: it may snow mashed potatoes, or rain juice or soup, or there might even be a storm of hamburgers that takes them by surprise. No one is too worried about the weather, until it takes a turn for the worse, the portions of food get larger and larger and fall faster and faster, until everyone in the town fears for their lives.

Guided Reading: Level M

Classroom Activities:

Learn about different types of weather, and how to stay safe during storms.

Students can keep a running record of what they ate for the school week. When completed, each student can create their own journal. The journals can be illustrated with the different foods and shared with partners.

Have the students read the thermometer at the same time every day for the next two weeks and record the temperature on a sheet of paper. At the end of two weeks have the students help you plot the readings on a graph. Discuss the graph and determine which days had the highest and lowest readings. Discuss any trends in the temperature and possible reasons for them. For example, you might notice that it’s getting warmer or colder as the days progress.

Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs by Judi Barrett is a very well-known children's book that was read to me when I was in grade school. The story takes place in Chewandswallow where food falls from the sky three times per day. This book is bound to get students creative and imaginative juices flowing in the classroom. According to the accelerated reader book leveling system, Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs would be suitable for students in 4th grade if I were using this book in a lesson I'd most likely use it during writing. I'd ask my students to create their own "weather menu" and write about what food selections would fall from the sky. 

AR: 4.3 

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs takes the reader on a journey to the unpredictable town of Chewandswallow, where breakfast, lunch, and dinner fall from the sky! The story begins when Grandpa sits down with his grandchildren to tell the best tall tale ever. He tells of all of the delicious food that the townspeople eat and how they go outside with their plates and utensils for each meal. As the story unfolds, we learn that the town begins to encounter some bad weather when portions increase and things like overcooked broccoli and a pea soup fog begin to blow in. The townspeople are frustrated and the sanitation department can no longer keep up. Things get out of of control and the citizens of Chewandswallow realize that they must abandon their once delightful town.

Children have enjoyed Judi Barrett's classic book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs for over 30 years, and honestly, it never gets old. The book is silly and fun and allows children to activate their imagination. 

There are many possible lessons and activities that could incorporate a read-aloud of the story which include:

• Compare/Contrast Venn Diagram (Students compare the town of Chewandswallow to the town that they live in)
• Science lesson on weather 
• Compound words
• Sentence prompts

Lexile Level: AD730L

This is a super silly book meant for the younger ones! In my opinion it would be best for 2nd grade. According to Fountas & Pinnell I think it would probably fall in that grade level as well. It's a tall-tale told from the perspective of the grandpa. It's about food falling from the sky. I think this would be a good introduction to learning about weather patterns. We could even branch off of that and go into the water cycle from there. 

Lexile Level: 

Life in the wonderful town of ChewandSwallow is great, instead of snow, wind, or rain, they get a different kind of weather that falls from the sky three times a day: breakfast, lunch, and dinner. But no one is too worried about the weather, until it takes a turn for the worse; the portions of food get larger and fall faster, until everyone in the town fears for their lives. With teamwork and marts, the residents are able to save themselves from the torrential food weather.

This book could be used as a kick starter for a science lesson or just for a fun read aloud. I would use this with grades 2nd to 5th grade.