Rationle:  Readers do many things as they read to comprehend what they are reading.  The five sub processes of comprehension include the following: micro processes, integrative processes, macro processes, elaborative processes, and metcognitive processes.  In this lesson students will participate in activities and be assessed according to their macro process and elaborative processes.  During macro processes readers organize and summarize ideas as they read; that is they look at the big picture of the entire text as well as the smaller units in the text (retellings).  During elaborative processes students learn to make connections as they talk about stories in grand conversations and write in reading logs.

Materials:  the book Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs (enough copies for each student), paper, pencil, crayons, and assessment checklist for each student

Procedure:
1. Today we are going to read Cloudy With a Chance of Meatballs.  You may read by yourself, with a buddy, or with me as a group if you want to.  (This might also need to be determined according to reading level.)
2. Now that everyone is finished reading the book, weâre going to have a grand conversation. (The teacher will talk with the students about their reactions to the book.  Students may talk about the following:
· how much fun it would be to have the weather  bring the food
· their favorite parts of the story
· why the people moved away from Chewandswallow
· why Grandpa told the story to the children
· whether or not the story was true
· the black and white illustrations at the beginning and end of the story and the color illustrations in the middle
3. Now everyone should be writing a paragraph using while thinking about what we
talked about during our grand conversation.  You may also draw a picture of your favorite part of the story if you have time.

      Assessment:
      While everyone else is working quietly on their paragraphs I will call on you to
share your retelling of the story with me.  Use the checklist below when each students is giving their retelling in order to assess each studentsâ comprehension.

Reference:
Tompkins, Gail E. Literacy for the 21st Century.  Prentice Hall. Upper Saddle River, NJ. 2001.

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