Tall+Tale+Lesson+Set

1. Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs Interactive Read Aloud 2. Reading Mini-Lesson (Cause and Effect) 3. Writing Mini-Lesson (Tall Tale Chart)

**// Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs: //**** Interactive Read Aloud **


 * Grade ** : 5


 * Time ** : 15 minutes

** Standards ** //(Common Core State Standards):// ·Recount stories, including fables, folktales, and myths from diverse cultures; determine the central message, lesson, or moral and explain how it is conveyed through key details in the text. ·Determine the main idea of a text; recount the key details and explain how they support the main idea. ** Objective: ** Students will engage in discussion about the book by recalling important events in their correct sequence and by concluding how the settings of these events contribute to the central ideas of the story.


 * Materials: ** //Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs// By: Judi Barrett


 * Lesson Sequence: **


 * - Before Reading: **
 * “Before I read you this book, I want to tell you all a quick story that I thought you might like. If you notice any text-to-self connections in my story or the one I will read later, show me the text-to-self hand motion.”
 * Tell them a story about the craziest weather I have ever been in. The story should be very dramatic. It should model a summary, only mentioning the most important details.
 * Front cover of the book may not have an illustration on the front, but turn to the title page. Ask students to make predictions about the story based on the picture on that page. If they already know the story because of the movie, note that the movie is over an hour long, so ask them to predict differences between the book and movie?
 * “Precipitation: the water that falls to the earth in the form of rain, snow, sleet or hail.” Students should write this definition in their vocabulary notebook, and once they define it, tell them to listen for all the different types of precipitation in the story.


 * - During Reading:**
 * Begin to read the first page. “On this first page we are already introduced to a few characters. I will read this again and listen carefully to hear who the characters are. Also, you can use the illustrations to help you!” “We have Grandpa, Henry, Mom and I? Who is I? So what type of story is this? Personal narrative!”
 * “What is the setting of this story? What is the time and the place?” Re-read the first two sentences regarding the setting (if needed).
 * “Grandpa is telling a tall-tale. That is a story that is very exaggerated, and usually not completely true. An example would be if you went out fishing and caught a tiny little fish, but then came back and told people that you caught a huge whale!”
 * On the sixth page the town of Chewandswallow is introduced. “Okay, now we are introduced to a new setting. Where are we in the story? What can you infer about the town by the illustrations?
 * After completely reading the 11th page, “How do the townspeople of Chewandswallow feel about this weather? Turn and talk to discuss how you would feel about food raining from the sky!”
 * I notice that there is no ceiling on this building! I guess they don’t need one, because the food just precipitates from the sky!
 * Page 17, “This seems like a problem to me! Let’s keep reading to see what will happen next.”
 * Page 21, think aloud, “At first this weather seemed positive. However, I think that it is quickly turning negative.”
 * Page 23, “What decision have the townspeople made? Why do they need to do that? The townspeople were feeling happy about the food precipitation before. Tell your neighbor how they may be feeling now.”

· ** After Reading: **
 * Turn and talk to your partner about the most important events of the story
 * Then, ask yourselves, Where did those events occur? Did every part of the story happen in the same setting?

** Assessment: **

 * “Let’s recall the different settings throughout the story, and how they added to the plot of the storyline.” Discuss how the setting changes from the real-life home then to the town of Chewandswallow.
 * Students should also notice how the illustrations change from black and white to color depending on which setting they are in. Incorporate sequence by asking, “Where does this story begin? Where do they go next?” Remember: setting includes both time and place.


 * Closure: **
 * “Before reading, we predicted that there may be differences between the book and the movie. Whose predictions were confirmed or denied?” What other observations did you stop and jot in your notebooks?”

**Plot Charts: Reading Mini-Lesson** **Grade**: 5


 * Time:** 15 minutes


 * Standard** (Common Core State Standards):
 * Compare and contrast the overall structure (e.g., chronology, comparison, cause/effect, problem/solution) of events, ideas, concepts, or information in two or more texts.

**Objective:** Students will be able to identify several examples of cause and effect in two different texts.

- //Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs// by Judi Barrett - T Chart (large enough to be displayed in front of the class)
 * Materials:**


 * Lesson Sequence**:

1. **Anticipatory Set (Engagement) –** **2. State objective and purpose –**
 * “Boys and girls, do you remember the book that we read yesterday? //Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs//, yes. I’m happy you all enjoyed the book. When we were reading, we noticed several events that occurred in the town of Chewandswallow. What were some of the events that happened in the story?”
 * “Well, today we are going to ask ourselves if those events were a cause for something else to happen, or maybe an effect of an event before it. How might finding the causes and effects of different events help us understand a story better?”

**3. Teach and Model**
 * Display a T Chart at the front of the room.[[image:http://i86.photobucket.com/albums/k88/alichele/Screenshot2011-04-22at122625PM.png caption="Photobucket" link="@http://s86.photobucket.com/albums/k88/alichele/?action=view&current=Screenshot2011-04-22at122625PM.png"]]
 * Model the first example for the students introducing how cause and effect are identified, referring to the pictures and text in the book. When you do the next three examples, find the page that the cause is on to trigger the students’ memory of what happened in the story. “When I come to an important event in my reading, I ask myself ‘What caused this to happen? What is the cause?’ If I can’t think of something that caused it, maybe this event is the cause. So, then I must ask myself, ‘What happened as an effect of this event?’ For example, ‘When a big pancake fell on the school, what caused this to happen? Or, what happened as an effect of a big pancake falling on the school? The school was closed because a big pancake fell on the school.’ So, when we look at the next example on our chart, what should you ask yourself?”

**4. Guided Practice -**
 * Continue the next two examples with the students, guiding them and asking questions to be sure that they understand how to identify the causes and effects in a text.
 * The last example switches the order of finding causes and effects. “In our last example on the chart, I have listed an effect. If you find an important event in your story and cannot find something that happened next, it might be an effect. What should you ask yourself to find the cause?” If students understand this concept, they will know to just ask ‘what may have caused this?’ or a question similar to that. Fostering these questions advises students to constantly ask questions to themselves throughout their reading.

**5. Independent Practice/Assessment –**
 * “Boys and girls, when you begin reading for independent reading today, I want you to notice any important events in your stories. When you come upon an event that you think may be a cause or an effect, put it in a T Chart like we did during this mini-lesson.”

**6. Closure –**
 * “When you are reading and find an important event, what should you ask yourself this
 * “Who would like to share some of the causes and effects that you encountered during your reading?”

** Tall Tale Chart: Writing Mini-Lesson **
 * Grade ** : 5


 * Time: ** 15 minutes


 * Standard (Common Core): **
 * 3. Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
 * a. Orient the reader by establishing a situation and introducing a narrator and/or characters; organize an event sequence that unfolds naturally.
 * b. Use narrative techniques, such as dialogue, description, and pacing, to develop experiences and events or show the responses of characters to situations.


 * Objective: ** Students will apply the writing process (i.e., brainstorm, draft, revise, edit, and publish) to produce their own tall tales with partners.


 * Materials: **
 * // Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs // by Judi Barrett
 * Tall tale checklist (with aspects of a tall tale)


 * Lesson Sequence: **


 * 1. Anticipatory Set (Engagement): **
 * “Boys and girls, we’ve been noticing different things about //Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs//. What have we discussed in this book so far?” Cause and effect, settings, tall tale and personal narrative. “Now, let me ask you – what did the townspeople do at the end of the story? Why? How did the author illustrate the intensity of the events of the town?” Looking for students to comment on how the author used great descriptions and writing techniques.
 * 2. State objective and purpose: **
 * “Today, you are going to write your own tall tale narratives. Tall tales are exaggerated stories, and a fun way to write a fictional story. This is the one time that I will encourage you to stretch the truth and lie in your writing.”
 * 3. **** Teach and Model: **
 * “Last week, I wrote a 2,345,657 page tall tale. I knew it would be tough, but I didn’t realize that it would take me a whole 15 minutes! I needed to learn how to write tall tales much quicker. I had to better understand the characteristics of a tall tale and truly understand what makes a tall tale. Therefore, I traveled 2 million miles on foot (that took a week!) to speak with the How To Write A Tall Tale Master. His fortress was guarded by an 8,000 lb. hamster who made me answer the following question. “What is a tall tale?” “That’s why I’m here! I came to ask the How To Write A Tall Tale Master what the characteristics of a tall tale are.’ The hamster swung a punch at me, missed and knocked a mountain over. I ran by and finally met the How To Write A Tall Tale Master. He gave me this checklist to use when I’m writing my next 100 tall tales.” Post up the checklist and read through the points. Ask students if my story had the elements in it. Does Cloudy With A Chance of Meatballs also have those elements in it? Tall tales don’t have to include every single element, but they must contain most elements.
 * 4. **** Guided Practice: **
 * “To begin writing a tall tale, you take an everyday event, and then add in unbelievable events. What was the ordinary event in the story I told you? We’re going to use these plain sentences and add exaggerated details to them.”

My dad is so big, ___.__ __I am such an awesome swimmer that__ ___.__ __My walk to school is so long,__ _. The wind was blowing so hard that __.__ __One day it was so cold that__ _.


 * “These sentences can be great starts to writing your tall tales. Then, think of at least 3 unbelievable things your character can do in your story and add those in. Next, use lots of adjectives and descriptions to describe the action. You may say that a pothole was big, or you can use lots of adjectives and description to say the pothole was so enormous that it could fit 300 elephants inside! Impossible exaggerations are what make up a tall tale, so use LOTS of them! End your tall tale with one final unbelievable event. Make it your biggest exaggeration of all.”
 * On board:
 * 3 unbelievable things
 * adjectives
 * descriptions
 * Take the sentences you wrote and ask students how they could write a tall tale stemming from that sentence.


 * 5. **** Independent Practice: **
 * “Boys and girls, when you are writing your tall tales today, I would like you to first begin with writing an ordinary sentence and making it unbelievable. Next, you follow the steps we discussed and use the checklist to guide what should be in your tall tale.”
 * “When these stories are completed, we are going to revise them and type them into a long tall tale story like this: (see example on last page)
 * 6. **** Closure/Assessment: **
 * What genre of writing will you be doing today? How are you going to focus your writing to stay in the genre of tall tale?


 * // Lesson adapted from/Resources: //**


 * Tall Tale Checklist []
 * Bright Hub, Lesson Plan: How to Write a Tall Tale[]
 * Read Write Think, Thundering Tall Tales: Using Read-Aloud as a Springboard to Writing [|http://www.readwritethink.org/classroom-resources/lesson-plans/thundering-tall-tales-using-327.html?tab=4#student-objectives]
 * Layers of Learning, Teaching Tall Tale []