Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs!

This unit was implemented throughout a 9-week course with one hour long classes.

Standard 1: K.ESS3.2 Explain the purpose of weather forecasting to prepare for, and respond to, severe weather in Tennessee.

Standard 2: K.PS1.2 Conduct investigations to understand that matter can exist in different states (solid and liquid) and has properties that can be observed and tested.

Standard 3: K.RL.KID.3 With prompting and support, orally identify characters, setting, and major events in a story.

‍Standard 4: K.RL.IKI.7 With prompting and support, orally describe the relationship between illustrations and the story in which they appear.

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Day 1: I can follow directions and practice collaboration while cooking. I can make two things that fell from the sky in the book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Students started easy by making soup and mashed potatoes. Although easy, students had to work together and collaborate. Discussions were focused on characteristics of both dry soup and mashed potatoes prior to water being added. Kinders had to describe the characteristics of the water through the boil process.

After cooking, students reflected on how soup and potatoes compared to weather we have in our area. Following the Front-to-Front, Back-to-Back protocol, students discussed their drawings and findings.

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Day 2: I can follow directions while cooking. I can make the food that fell from the sky in the book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

As we continued to read our way through the book, students picked out a food that fell from the sky: frankfurters already in their buns with mustard clouds! So... we made them! 

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Day 3: I can use my ‘people smarts’ and explain how the townspeople must have felt. I can use my ‘body smarts’ to make the food that fell from the sky in the book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Discussions about what is possible and impossible continue through day 3.... but, let's add a bit more. Students took time to reflect on emotions and "stepping in someone else's shoes" by thinking about how the townspeople must have felt in specific events from the book.

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Day 4: I can use my creativity and my ‘body smarts’ to recreate a scene from the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.

Time to repurpose stale bread and use some STEM knowledge to push the boundaries of learning. Think of this lesson as a STEM-Culinary cross! 

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Day 5: I can recall 3 big events from the story. I can follow S.T.A.R expectations while making a food that fell from the sky in the book.

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Day 6: I can use details to describe food while playing a game. I can recall what is true and not true about the book: Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs. I can explain how popcorn is made.

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We finished the book but had to make sure we hadn't forgotten key details and events from the story. So.... we played true or false! Students colored statements according to the evidence found in the book.

Afterwards, we started the sequel! Pickles to Pittsburgh! 

We played a game afterwards to meet our learning goals about using details to describe objects.

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Day 7: I can recall events from the book: Pickles to Pittsburgh. I can follow S.T.A.R expectations while baking a new food that fell in Chewandswallow.

Who can make the biggest cookie like the one from the book?