Cloudy With A Chance Of Meatballs Summary

Tell students that now that they have completed several lessons about summarizing, they are going to show you that they really know how to summarize. They will break into groups and fill in one part of a story map, about Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Then each group will present their answer to summarize Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs as a class. Finally, you are going to give them "book" pages on which they will write and draw about Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. They will use their books to summarize the story for their family members. Remind them that their summaries should always be shorter than the real book because a summary only includes the most important information about a story. It should be "short and sweet."

We do:

4. Focused Instruction
Review the vocabulary words on the story map. Explain that the reason they need to fill information in a story map is because it helps them keep track of the most important information they need to remember to be able to summarize a story.
Write the name of each part of a story map section (characters, setting, problem, main event [label 1st, 2nd and 3rd], and solution) on a piece of chart paper and draw a small picture beside each section to remind students which section they have. Have students help brainstorm a quick image for each section of the story map. For example, they can draw a stick figure next to the character section.
Divide students into seven groups (one for each section of the story map) and give each group one section of the story map. Explain that you are going to read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs aloud to them and they are going to write or draw the information in their section of the story map. Tell them that you are going to stop reading at certain points, and groups should talk about what you have read to figure out if they need to add any important information to their section of the story map.
Before reading, explain to students that Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs is a story that really has two stories. The grandfather in this story tells his grandchildren a tall-tale—the story within the story. Point out that students should record all of the characters they hear, and tell them to listen closely for the beginning of the tall-tale that the grandfather tells. Start reading aloud Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs to students. Stop reading right after Grandpa begins the tall-tale and make sure that students understand this is the beginning of Grandpa's story. Give groups a chance to fill-in information.
If groups need help, ask questions such as, "Who is in the story so far?" and "What do I know about the setting?" Make sure that the groups who have the "Character" section are recording information. Continue reading aloud and be sure to monitor students' discussions as they determine what information to include. Some may need prompting such as, groups who have the main event sections that the first main event has happened, and so on. For students who are struggling writers, tell them that they can draw whatever they want that reminds them of their section. For example, students who have the second main event section could just draw a big pancake covering a school.
Suggested stopping points:
o After reading the page about the Sanitation Department
o After reading that the people had to abandon Chewandswallow
o The end of the story
Sample Story Map answers:
Characters: Henry, Henry's sister, Grandpa, Mom
Problem: The good food stopped falling and it was replaced by bad food that was too big; the people had to leave Chewandswallow.

Setting: house; Chewandswallow

First Main Event: It rained food three times a day in Chewandswallow. The people ate whatever weather was served, and they didn't have to worry about going food shopping. People just carried their utensils with them.

Second Main Event: The weather took a turn for the worse. Bad food kept falling, and then food that was too big. People got sick trying to eat too much, and they had to close school. People decided to leave Chewandswallow.

Third Main Event: The townspeople made a boat out of stale bread and sailed to a new town. They had to get used to shopping for food at the supermarket.

Solution: The people of Chewandswallow survived in a new town, and Grandpa's story put the children to sleep!

5. Guided

Practice
Create a decorative story-map title page on a piece of chart paper that includes the title of the story, and the author's and illustrator's names.

Collect the chart paper from each group and beginning with your title page, have children tell you where to tape all of the pieces of chart paper in the same order as the story map across the front board. Tell students that they are going to use their words or pictures to help them summarize Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs. Begin the summary by stating the name of the story and the name of the author and illustrator. Then, call on the "character" group to tell who the main characters are, the "setting" group to tell about the setting, and so on. Guide groups to summarize their part of the story in one or two sentences including only the most important points. Tell groups to listen to one another so that they can hear Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs being

summarized.

You do:
6. Independent Practice
Tell students that when they are summarizing a story to somebody, they usually do not have the book available to look through as they are talking. Explain that you want them to write and draw their own summary of Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs so that they can summarize the story to you and to their family members at home.
Create a title page with the story's name and then create blank pages with these sentence frames on top:
The main characters are ________.
The setting of the story is: ________.
The problem in the story is _________.
The first funny event that happened is ______.
The second funny event that happened is ________.
The third funny event that happened is ________.
The story ended when _______.
Copy the book pages and distribute them to the class. Show students how to put their "books" in order and then staple them. (If appropriate, students should number the pages at the bottom.) Have students draw a fun picture on the title page and on each page to tell about the sentence frame. Advanced students may be able to fill in some words, but if they can't, tell students that a family member can write the information when students are summarizing Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs for them. Help children read the sentence frames and remind them that they should draw just one main picture that tells about the sentence frame. Their "book summary" should be shorter than the actual story and should only include the most important details.