Kaitlyn Johnston

SPLED 404 TIPS Assignment

First Grade Language Arts

lessonplanspage.com http://lessonplanspage.com/cloudy-with-a-chance-of-meatballs/
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
Estimated Time: 45 minutes
Description: A Compare/Contrast lesson where students use the book Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs by Judi Barrett to practice the use of clear and precise language to demonstrate
comprehension.
Strand:
Listening / Speaking
Listening Speaking
Reading
Analysis and Interpretation Awareness of Print Comprehension
Phonemic Awareness Vocabulary Development Word Identification
Science
Physical Science
Writing
Grammar and Usage Punctuation and Spelling Writing in Practice
Objectives: Students will be able to demonstrate understanding of the compare and contrast
strategy in modern fantasy through the story Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs by Judi
Barrett.
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
Pre-requisite Knowledge
Students will know the four seasons and should be familiar with the concepts of weather that
includes clouds, rain, snow, wind, storms, and tornadoes. Students must also be able to recognize
the foods referred to in the story and reviewed if necessary.
Motivation

Kaitlyn Johnston

SPLED 404 TIPS Assignment

Students will be introduced to this lesson with the reading of Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs , by Judi Barrett. Prior to the reading teacher will ask students to look at the cover and
make a prediction of what they think the story is about. Teacher will show visuals of umbrellas
and ask students which one might be used in the town of Chewandswallow and which one might
be used in real life.
Relevant Questions
What do you think it would be like to live in a place where food really did come from the sky?
Would you like to live in a place like this? Why or why not?
How is the town of Chewandswallow different from our town?
Procedure
Students will gather together for the instruction and reading of Cloudy with a Chance of
Meatballs .
Teacher will display visuals and chart paper.
Questions will be asked periodically during the reading regarding the weather in the town of
Chewandswallow.
Before the students are asked to brainstorm compare and contrast between Chewandswallow and
a real town, a mini-lesson discussing the concept of compare and contrast will be taught using a
chart.
Explain the students that we will now list all of the characteristics that are the same about the
towns and all the characteristics that are different.
The teacher will call on volunteers to share their ideas with the class. As the students provide
responses, the teacher will write them in the appropriate spaces on the chart.
Give every student a copy of the bulletin board pattern and have each child write about an
imaginary town where odd things rained down from the sky.
Students who finish early will get an umbrella coloring page to complete.
Interdisciplinary Activity
During science the children will learn about health and nutrition. They will reflect on their own
lives, what they eat, and what they do to stay healthy.
Materials

Kaitlyn Johnston

SPLED 404 TIPS Assignment

Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs, by Judi Barrett markers

large easel pad
watch out for wacky weather bulletin board pattern sheets umbrella coloring sheets
crayons pencils
! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! ! !
large oak tag umbrella cut out real umbrella
Assessment
Students responses to the book that was read aloud in class. Observation of students expression
of ideas comparing and contrasting two towns. Students written response to the bulletin board
pattern page. Also, assess childrens ability to correctly identify and label illustrations and
sentences as fantasy or realism.
Follow-up/ Enrichment Activities
Temperature Comparison
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 the possible reasons for them. For
example, you might notice that its getting warmer or colder as the days progress.
Keep a Record
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.
Questions for further discussion
Students can discuss and write about problems which may have occurred as a result of no
sanitation, oversized food rotting food, etc.
Homework
Tell what you think the author is saying about peoples responsibility toward their environment.
Illustrate. Copyright 1996-2015 HotChalk Inc. All rights reserved.

TIPS SCIENCE - ELEMENTARY

Students Name _________________________

Date ______________

TIPS: HEALTH - NUTRITION

Dear Family Partner,

We just read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett in Language Arts and discussed
healthy versus unhealthy food in Science. This activity will help build my understanding of making
healthy eating choices and identifying the general nutritional value of foods I encounter in their
daily life. I hope you enjoy this activity with me. This assignment is due _____________.
Sincerely,
______________________________
Students Signature

OBJECTIVE:

To identify healthy and unhealthy foods in the home and draw

conclusions about the frequency of them in our daily lives.

MATERIALS:

Pen or Pencil

PROCEDURE:

1. Discuss with your family members the difference between healthy and unhealthy
food. Give some examples that we talked about in class.
2. Head into your kitchen or wherever your family stores food. If necessary, you could
also visit a supermarket to complete this activity.
3. Write down six healthy foods and six unhealthy foods that you find.
4. Talk with your family member why the unhealthy foods are unhealthy.
5. Answer the conclusion questions.

LAB REPORT:

Fill in the following chart based on your findings:

Healthy Food

Unhealthy Food

CONCLUSIONS:

Discuss the following questions with your family members. Please write in complete
sentences.
1. Do you find more healthy or unhealthy food? _______________________________
______________________________________________________________________
2. Could you switch any of the unhealthy food for a healthier option? ______________
______________________________________________________________________
3. Did you find most of your unhealthy food in the refrigerator or the pantry? ________
______________________________________________________________________

HOME TO SCHOOL COMMUNICATION:

Dear Parent/Family Partner,

Please give me some feedback on your childs understanding of the topic and their work
on this activity.
Write YES or NO for each statement:
____ My child understood the homework and was able to discuss what they learned.
____ My child and I enjoyed participating in this activity.
____ The assignment helped me understand what my child is learning in science.
Any other comments: ____________________________________________________
Parents Signature: ______________________________________________________

Kaitlyn Johnston
TIPS Assignment Reflection Paper
For my TIPS assignment, I chose to focus on the science interdisciplinary portion of the
language arts lesson plan I found. The core goal of my TIPS homework is for parents and
students to recognize the healthy and unhealthy nutrition decisions they are making at home.
Sometimes there is a disconnect between what the students learn in school and what they are
practicing at home when it comes to healthy choices. Therefore, I have created a science TIPS
homework where parents and children work together to find the healthy and unhealthy food
choices in their household. Hopefully this will inspire the children to use what they learned in
school about proper nutrition and recommend to their parents that they invest in more healthy
food.
It complements the original lesson plan in regards to the interdisciplinary science lesson.
The students read Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett and worked on compare
and contrast methods. The teacher then connected the story to science by teaching the students
about healthy food choices and nutrition. Building off of this science connection was my goal for
this TIPS assignment.
I would assign this assignment after learning about nutrition in science for a few days and
send it home on a Thursday to be returned on Monday to give the students enough time to sit
down with their parents and complete the assignment.
To make this accessible to all families, I have created an alternative location for the
assignment for those families that may have a limited food supply or who know they dont have
a lot of healthy food options and would rather go to a supermarket. It is also not a very time

consuming activity so parents who work a lot do not have to worry about lack of time to
complete the assignment with their child.
In regards to the ten purposes of homework handouts, my TIPS assignment serves
instructional and communicative purposes. Instructional purpose includes practice and personal
development. The students are practicing what they have learned in class about nutrition by
analyzing their food habits at home. This also affects personal development, as the students are
learning how to make better food choices and teaching their families about good eating decisions
to make. The communicative purposes include parent-child connections and parent-teacher
communication. The activity requires the parent to work with the child to find healthy and
unhealthy foods in the house or supermarket. Even if parents dont know the difference between
healthy and unhealthy foods, the knowledge from class that their child will share should be
enough for the parent to guide the child in the right direction. The home-to-school connection
section of the assignment allows the parents to communicate with the teacher in an easy,
effective way. The parent can express concerns and provide valuable feedback about how the
student understood the material and activity and whether or not the activity was effective in
reinforcing the material.
In regards to the eight methods of parent involvement with homework, I have integrated
provide general oversight of the homework process, respond to the students homework
performance, and engage in homework processes and tasks with the student. With this
activity, parents will monitor, supervise, and oversee the homework assignment by completing it
with their child. By helping them, they can immediately intervene when the child struggles and
give praise when the child succeeds. The parent responds to the students homework

performance by reinforcing the childs homework effort and completeness. Parents will also
check and review the activity after the child completes it. Finally, the parent engages in
homework processes and tasks with the student by working with them to complete the activity.
They will teach the student in an indirect way by following their childs instructions and
guidance in finding food to fill in the chart. Overall, I made sure this activity was very helpful in
involving parents effectively in homework.