WritingFix: a 6-Trait Writing Lesson that uses Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs by Judi and Ron Barrett

By visiting this lesson's Teacher Instructions & Lesson Resources page, you will find even more samples that can be printed for your class to be used as discussion tools during the teaching of this lesson.

Your students can self-publish their writing to this prompt by clicking here.

Student Samples: Early Elementary

Cloudy with a Chance of Candy
by Jack, first grade writer

Once upon a time there lay a town of Candytown. Here the clouds are made of cotton candy, grass is made of licorice and all the houses are made of all kinds of candy.

For breakfast they ate mints, for lunch they ate M&M’s and for dinner they ate donuts and swallowed that down with hot chocolate.

But the weather came out bad. The next day at breakfast, ice cream flooded the town. At lunch, an earthquake came in and left behind chocolate milk shakes. At dinner, a tsunami of hot chocolate flooded the town!

Everyday the weather was terrible. Lakes flooded, tornadoes came and all kinds of things happened. So Candytown had to be abandoned. No one came back to see what happened again.

(Click here to view and print Jack and one of his classmates'
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs stories.)

Breakfast, Lunch, and Dinner
by Marissa, third grade writer

Breakfast fell fast on the ground in the morning. The sky served delicious eggs, pancakes and a giant hash brown. Everybody in the land of Chew and Swallow ate all the food on the plate. The scrambled eggs were cheesy. The pancakes were fluffy, and the hash brown was golden and chewy. Everybody in the land of Chew and Swallow ate breakfast with their friends and family. They were full of energy until lunch.

At lunch, the food fell silently on the sidewalk. For lunch I had a hotdog, a soda and strawberries. The hot dog was smokin’. The soda was sugary and the strawberries were fresh. Once again the whole town ate all of it. And they were all happy and full of energy… until dinner.

For dinner in the town of Chew and Swallow, they had spaghetti. It fell gushy and hard. For a beverage they had lemonade. The spaghetti was so good. No chef could make it in a thousand million years! The lemonade was like it was in an igloo for three years. This time they only ate half and saved the other half for later. They all had a good night sleep.

(Click here to view and print Marissa and two of her classmates'
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs stories.)

Student Samples: Upper Elementary

Yummy with a Chance of Takeout
by Grace, fourth grade writer

“Oww!” I yelped as I was hit in the face with a mini Subway sandwich while enjoying my wonderful Sunday morning in the town of Takeout. All of a sudden, the clouds started opening up, and the food came pouring down at the speed of light. The thunder was deafening, and the food became five times larger than me, and it was still growing! Today might not be as ordinary as I had thought.

As I grabbed my plates and utensils, a giant fog of orange juice came over the town of Takeout. Raindrops of syrup came out of the white clouds of milk. Instead of yummy McDonald’s pancakes falling from the sky, Pop-Tarts came down from above. The town was astonished. Regular--not take out--food was falling from the sky! The world was coming to an end! Then the town settled down…..until lunch….

At lunch, the town got crazy again. Some were still in shock from breakfast, but all were wishing for a normal lunch. Their wish did NOT come true. For lunch, the town had homemade peanut butter and jelly, cherry Kool-aid, and fresh coleslaw! Non-takeout food was falling from the sky...again! What was happening to them? They ate the food, but it tasted weird to them. The town did NOT settle down at all.

For dinner, all that came down from the sky was a giant Chinese food box. The town became very confused. They tried and tried to open the huge box, but somehow it would not open. Just in the nick of time, a large chopstick fell on top of the box and created a hole just big enough for a person to fit in. Inside was every morsel of food they had missed that day. And guess what? It was all takeout food and all my favorite! Yum, toasted Subway sandwiches, creamy Crabrangoons, a spicy side of hot wings, and all you can drink Mountain Dew, with free refills.

There had been one good thing about the non-takeout food…..the hailstorm of Pop-Tarts!

(Click here to view and print Grace's
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs story.)

Left-overs
by Madison, fifth grade writer

"This morning," announced the weatherman, "there will be a 70% chance of hash brown, 90% chance of scrambled eggs, and a 40% of spinach oatmeal." I listened to the radio while I looked out the window, waiting for Mom to bring in breakfast.

Then, scrambled eggs started racing toward the ground. Salty and delightful. The hash browns floated gracefully into Mom's baskets. Crispy and wonderful. After that, it started sprinkling spinach oatmeal, Grandpa's favorite. I think that is icky and revolting!

"For lunch today," he went on, "there is a slight chance of tater tots, a definite chance of beef stroganoff, and a 50% chance of steak and cheese subs."

The tater tots pelted toward the ground. Unhealthy, but scrumptious! It drizzled beef stroganoff for about ten minutes. Meaty and savory. Then came the steak and cheese subs. They gracefully fell down from the clouds. Heavenly and nutrious.

"Finally," he said enthusiastically, "my favorite, lasagna! A 70% chance of it. An 80% chance of meatloaf, and a 100% chance of pork chops. Wow, that's a lot of meat!!"

The lasagna got carried in by the wind, splattering against the window. Delicious and appetizing. The meatloaf poured down. Tangy and yummy. Then came the pork chops. The wind changed directions so that the pork could come in peacefully, and not form a pork 'n lasagna tornado. Just the way I like it-spicy and spontaneous.

As I waited at the windowsill for Mom to bring in dinner, I heard her calling me from a distance, saying, "Wake up! It's time for dinner. WAKE UP!!"

I woke up. I had fallen asleep at the window while I had been waiting for the rain to stop, so I could play outside. "What are we having for dinner?" I asked.

"Leftovers."

"Like what?"

"Hash browns, scrambled eggs, spinach oatmeal. tater tots, beef stroganoff, steak and cheese subs, lasagna, meatloaf, and pork chops."

I walked over to the table, sat down, and started eating!!

(Click here to view and print Madison's
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs story.)

Student Sample: Middle School

Mikaelaopolis
by Mikaela, seventh grade writer

One bright sunny day in Mikaelaopolis, everyone was starting to wake up and start their day. The children got ready and went to play in the warm cinnamon-sugar sand and splash in the blue Gatorade ocean while waiting for breakfast. They played as the golden sun shone over them.

For breakfast, warm light fluffy scrambled eggs floated down from the clouds. Then bacon sizzled down from the sun, cooked to perfection. Finally, a light rain of orange juice sprinkled to the ground. That concluded the wonderful breakfast weather and everyone went inside to eat.

Later, at precisely 12:15 p.m., a lasagna casserole flashed to the ground like lightning. Green beans sprouted from the ground. A soda river came right down the mountain, and everyone bent down to gather some in their cups. For dessert, light fluffy whipped cream drifted to the ground like snow. Ice cream then came down to accompany the whipped cream.

For supper later on, after everyone had digested lunch, dinner came right on schedule. Warm golden chicken nuggets came tumbling to the ground. Ketchup sprinkled down from the clouds. Buttered toast was dipped into the cinnamon-sugar sand. For a drink, people took their glasses and got Gatorade out of the ocean.

That concluded another day in Mikaelaopolis. The people came to watch as the golden sun set behind the white fluffy clouds. The red, white, and blue Popsicle fireworks soared across the horizon.

(Click here to view and print Mikaela and three of her classmates'
Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs stories.)

Student Sample Being Sought: High School

WritingFix is currently seeking a 9th-12th grade student's sample for this writing assignment. Teachers: if you can help us obtain up to three student samples, along with a digital photo of the students and a signed permission slips, we will send you either a complimentary copy of the Northern Nevada Writing Project's Secondary Writing Guide, or you may choose from any of our NNWP publications.

Write to us at publish@writingfix.com and write 'Cloudy with a Chance of Meatballs' in your e-mail's subject line, if you have a student sample to share with us.

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