Cloudy with a Chance of TOTAL AWESOMENESS

Cloudy with a Chance of TOTAL AWESOMENESS

I love taking a walk down "nostalgia lane" and reinventing the way I teach a childhood favorite.  And what better than the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi Barrett - a book where food falls from the sky!  This was a favorite of mine since before I could actually read the words and simply made up a story based on the pictures (most likely while sitting on my dad's back porch licking an orange push-pop).  So here's my take on an all time favorite of mine, from my totally awesome group of third graders.

Give kids choice and they will be far more motivated to work and ultimately produce better work.  Not all kids are comfortable being in front of the camera or singing a rap ballad about pickles, but as you can see, some totally are, and that's why choice is important.  So check out the examples below, which vary from 3-D towns to school lunch menus.  The only thing they had to keep in mind while creating their projects was that it had to relate to the town of Chewandswallow from the book Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs.  What would life really be like if food fell from the sky?  Imagine what commercials would you see or what might be on the school lunch menu.  Just remember to IMAGINE.

WHEN PICKLES ATTACK!

Here's a diorama of pickles attacking the town of Chewandswallow (notice how the upside-down pickle has taken hold of an innocent victim.....AH!). 

Here's a more appetizing example with multiple flavors of ice-cream falling from the sky.

LUNCH MENU FUN!

Hungry?  How about some "meatball pudding" or a "stale tater-tot burger"?  If that's not appetizing, could I interest you in an "old apple" or a sip of "split-pea flavored soda"?  I didn't think so, and that's what makes this lunch menu so awesome.  There's probably not much choice on a school lunch menu, where whatever falls from the sky is...well, what you will be eating until the next downpour of tater-tots!