A woman using a long spoon to stir soup looking up in shock as meat falls from the sky
llustration by Carolyn Ridsdale
Paired Texts,

The Day It Rained Meat

The totally gross, totally true story of the Kentucky meat shower.

By Mackenzie Carro and Blair Rainsford
From the March/April 2022 Issue

Learning Objective: Students will synthesize information from a nonfiction article about an unusual weather event and an infographic about how waterspouts form.

Complexity Factors
  • Purpose & Levels of Meaning
    The first text is an article about a weather oddity: animals raining from the sky. It explains that most animal rains are likely caused by waterspouts (although the meat rain described in the story was probably the result of vomiting vultures). The second text is an infographic that tells how waterspouts form. On another level, the paired texts explore the human fascination with and desire to understand nature’s curiosities.
  • Structure
    The first text consists of three sections. The article opens with a narrative passage from 1876, then it lists other examples of animal rain throughout history. From this point, the text is primarily informational. The second text is an infographic describing the four steps in the formation of a waterspout.
  • Language
    The first article uses both straightforward and descriptive language. The language of the second text is composed of straightforward explanatory sentences. Each text includes some challenging vocabulary words (chunks, relieved, swirl, and funnel). These vocabulary words are defined on the page.
  • Knowledge Demands
    Some basic familiarity with tornadoes will be helpful. Vultures are described within the text. Europe, South America, and France are mentioned.
Lexiles: 500L-600L, Easier Level
Guided Reading Level: R
DRA Level: 40
Featured Skill: Synthesizing,
Other Key Skills: text features, vocabulary, key details, supporting details, cause and effect, main idea, sequencing, summarizing, inference, compare and contrast, connecting to the text, explanatory and narrative writing
Standards
  • Common Core
    RI.1, RI.2, RI.3, RI.4, RI.5, RI.6, RI.7, RI.8, RI.9, W.2, W.3, SL.1, L.1
  • TEKS Grade 3
    1a, 1c, 3a, 3b, 6a, 6d, 6e, 6f, 6g, 6h, 7b, 7c, 7d, 7f, 7g, 9d, 12a, 12b
Content-Area Connections
  • Science
    meteorology, animal behavior

Presentation View
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Lexile® measure

  • On Level
  • Easier Level
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Easier Level
Think and Read: Connecting the Texts

As you read, think about the topics of both texts and how they are connected.

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

The date was March 3, 1876. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky in Bath County, Kentucky. A woman named Mary Crouch was doing chores in her yard. 

Suddenly, something started falling from above. It wasn’t rain, hail, or snow. It was meat. Chunks of slimy animal meat were dropping from the sky!

It was March 3, 1876. There wasn’t a cloud in the sky. A woman named Mary Crouch was doing chores in her yard in Bath County, Kentucky.

Suddenly, something started falling from above. It wasn’t rain or snow. It was meat. Chunks of slimy animal meat were falling from the sky!

Falling Frogs and Fish

Falling Frogs and Fish

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

Crouch wasn’t the first person to see strange objects raining from the sky. In the 1700s, French soldiers saw toads falling from the clouds. In 1930, a turtle fell from the sky here in the U.S. In 2005, thousands of frogs rained down on a town in Europe. And it rains fish every year in one village in South America!

What causes these odd events? Are there clouds of fish and frogs up in the sky? Nope. Scientists say waterspouts are usually the explanation.

Waterspouts are strong windstorms that happen over bodies of water. In a waterspout, the winds spin around really fast, similar to the winds in a tornado. When those waterspout winds get spinning, they can suck up the water and whatever’s in the water—including animals! 

So if a waterspout is spinning over a lake full of fish, the fish can get sucked up into the storm. The storm keeps moving and sometimes reaches land. When the winds stop spinning, the fish fall to the ground. This can make it look like animals are raining from the sky!

Crouch wasn’t the first person to see strange objects drop from the sky. In the 1700s, French soldiers saw toads falling from the clouds. In 1930, a turtle fell from the sky here in the U.S. In 2005, thousands of frogs rained down on a town in Europe. And it rains fish every year in one village in South America!

What causes these odd events? Are there clouds of fish and frogs up in the sky? Nope. Scientists say waterspouts are usually the explanation.

Waterspouts are strong windstorms. They happen over bodies of water. The winds of a waterspout spin around really fast, like a tornado. These winds can suck up the water. They can also suck up whatever’s in the water—including animals! 

If a waterspout spins over a lake full of fish, the fish can get sucked up into the storm. The storm keeps moving. It sometimes reaches land. When the winds stop spinning, the fish fall to the ground. This can make it look like animals are raining from the sky!

Vulture Vomit

Vulture Vomit

SHUTTERSTOCK.COM

What’s this? It’s a nearly 150-year-old piece of the Kentucky “meat rain.” Yum!

Is this what happened to Mary Crouch? No—there were no waterspouts in the area that day. Scientists have a grosser explanation: vulture vomit.

Vultures are birds that eat dead or dying animals. They aren’t always sure when they’ll find food. So they often stuff themselves with more than they need. If they fly away too quickly, they throw up their lunch. 

Chances are, Mary Crouch was in the wrong place at the wrong time—under a flock of overstuffed, vomiting vultures! 

After that weird day in 1876, there were no more meat showers near Crouch’s farm. Crouch was probably relieved. But people said her cat loved gobbling up the slimy chunks on the ground. The pet probably would have enjoyed another meaty shower!

Is this what happened to Mary Crouch? No. There were no waterspouts in the area that day. Scientists have another explanation: vulture vomit. Gross!

Vultures are birds that eat dead or dying animals. They aren’t always sure when they’ll find food. So when they do find food, they often stuff themselves with more than they need. If they fly away too quickly, they throw up their lunch.

Chances are, Mary Crouch was in the wrong place at the wrong time—underneath stuffed, vomiting vultures! 

After that weird day in 1876, there were no more meat showers near Crouch’s farm. Crouch was probably relieved. But people said her cat loved eating the slimy chunks on the ground. The pet probably would have enjoyed another meaty shower!

How a Waterspout Forms

Look at the graphics below to learn how a waterspout starts. 

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CARROZZA

1. Winds start to swirl above the water, creating a dark spot.

1. Winds start to swirl above the water, creating a dark spot.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CARROZZA

2. A funnel cloud begins to form in the sky as water swirls up into the air.

2. A funnel cloud begins to form in the sky. Water swirls up into the air.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CARROZZA

3. The funnel cloud 4 gets longer and lower as the water rises higher.

3. The funnel cloud gets longer and lower. The water rises higher.

ILLUSTRATION BY JOHN CARROZZA

4. The funnel cloud reaches the water. The storm is now a waterspout!

4. The funnel cloud reaches the water. The storm is now a waterspout!

THINK AND WRITE

Imagine it starts raining fish in your town. Using details from both texts, write a paragraph explaining how a waterspout could have caused this.

THINK AND WRITE

Imagine it starts raining fish in your town. Using details from both texts, write a paragraph explaining how a waterspout could have caused this.

Slideshows (1)
Audio ()
Activities (7)
Skills Activities
Quizzes (1)
Answer Key (1)
Slideshows (1)
Audio ()
Activities (7) Download All Quizzes and Activities
Skills Activities
Quizzes (1)
Answer Key (1)
Can't-Miss Teaching Extras
Look at a Slideshow

Your students will enjoy this brief and informative slideshow from National Geographic about “Strange Rains.” The short explanation about animal rain at the bottom of the page is offered at three different reading levels and includes a glossary.

 

Meet Some Vultures

Learn more about vultures in this compelling 2-minute video from the San Diego Zoo.

See the Stages of a Waterspout

This dramatic 2-minute video from the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration tells about waterspouts and how they form. The language is a bit technical for younger people, but the visuals will help your students better understand the different stages of a waterspout.

Step-by-Step Lesson Plan
Download the Lesson Plan

Table of Contents

1. Preparing to Read

2. Close Reading

3. SEL Focus

4. Skill Building and Writing

5. Differentiate and Customize

Striving Readers, Multilingual Learners, Advanced Readers, Guided Reading Groups

1. Preparing to Read

Build Background Knowledge/Set a Purpose for Reading/Preview Text Features

  • Call on volunteers to read aloud the Think and Read box on page 16 and the Think and Write box on page 18. Remind students to keep these in mind as they read.

  • Show a picture of a vulture (here’s a turkey vulture from the Cornell Lab of Ornithology’s website. Inform your class that this bird plays an important role in the story they’re about to read.

Introduce Vocabulary (15 minutes)

  • Show or assign the Vocabulary Slideshow to preview challenging words. Then assign the Vocabulary Skill Builder before or after reading. Highlighted words (defined at the bottom of the articles’ pages): chunks, relieved, swirl, and funnel.

2. Close Reading

Reading and Unpacking the Text

  • First read: Students should read the articles one time for general comprehension. 

  • Second read: Project, distribute, or assign the Close-Reading and Critical-Thinking Questions to the class. Preview them together. Ask students to read the articles again and answer the questions as a class or in pairs. (Alternatively, assign all or part of the Learning Journey Slide Deck, which contains the questions as well as other activities from this lesson plan and a link to the stories.) 

  • Follow up with the SEL Focus activity.

Close-Reading Questions (30 minutes)

  • Read the first section of “The Day It Rained Meat.” What did Mary Crouch see as she was doing chores in her backyard? (key details) Crouch saw pieces of meat falling from the sky.
  • Read “Falling Frogs and Fish.” Describe other strange objects that have fallen from the sky in countries all over the world. (supporting details) French soldiers saw toads falling from the sky in the 1700s. In the United States, a turtle fell in 1930. Thousands of frogs rained down on a town in Europe in 2005. In one village in South America, fish fall from the sky every year.
  • Based on the section “Falling Frogs and Fish,” what usually causes animals to fall from the sky? (cause and effect) Scientists believe that waterspouts usually cause these events.
  • Why is the next section called “Vulture Vomit”? (main idea, text features) The next section explains that vultures throwing up their food caused meat to fall from the sky in Crouch’s yard.
  • Look at the infographic, “How a Waterspout Forms.” What is the first step in how a waterspout forms? (sequencing, text features) The first step in how a waterspout forms is that winds begin to swirl above the water. This creates a dark spot.
  • Describe how a funnel cloud helps create a waterspout. (summarizing, text features) A funnel cloud forms in the sky as the water swirls up into the air. The funnel cloud gets longer and lower as the water rises higher. When the funnel cloud reaches the water, it becomes a waterspout.

Critical-Thinking Questions (10 minutes)

  • How do you think Crouch probably felt about the meat shower in her yard? How does this compare with how Crouch’s cat responded to the meat shower? (inference, compare and contrast) Answers will vary. Sample answer: Crouch probably hated the meat shower in her yard. The meat was slimy vulture vomit. You can guess that it looked, smelled, and felt gross. Also, the meat storm might have messed up whatever chores Crouch was doing. The authors write that Crouch was probably happy that there were no more meat storms near her farm. But Crouch’s cat seemed to like the meat shower. People said the cat gobbled up the pieces of meat on the ground. The authors write that it “probably would have enjoyed another meaty shower.”
  • Would you be interested in seeing animal rain in real life? Why or why not? (connecting to the text) Answers will vary. Some students might say they would be interested in seeing this unusual event up close. Others might say that seeing animal rain in real life would be gross or distressing.

3. SEL Focus

Recognizing Different Viewpoints

Ask students to read the last paragraph of the story and think about how Crouch probably felt about the meat shower that fell in her yard. How do you think you would’ve responded to something similar happening to you? As a class, discuss how people can look at the same thing in different ways. Ask students to think about a time they had a different reaction or viewpoint than a classmate, friend, or family member did.

4. Skill Building and Writing

Featured Skill: Synthesizing

 

  • Distribute our Synthesizing Skill Builder and have students complete it in class or for homework.  

  • Discuss the writing assignment in the Think and Write box on page 18. Remind students to include details from both articles in their paragraphs.

Differentiate and Customize
For Striving Readers

Put students in pairs to read or listen to the Easier version of the articles. Assign a different Close-Reading Question for each pair to answer. Ask each pair to present their answer to the group and, together, discuss the Critical-Thinking Questions.

For Multilingual Learners

The paired texts include various weather-related words (cloud, rain, hail, snow, sky, waterspouts, and shower) that may be unfamiliar to your multilingual learners. Before reading the articles, go over each word and its definition, including an image. Invite students to share what these words are in their first languages. (In a similar vein, the terms vomit, vomiting, and throwing up may be new ones for your students and might need to be pretaught.)

For Advanced Readers

Ask students to work in pairs and choose another interesting weather topic to research. For example, they might opt to learn about hail, the northern lights, rainbows, or dust devils. Instruct each pair to create a poster with at least five interesting facts about their topic, including what causes it. Invite students to present their posters to their classmates.

For Guided Reading Groups

Read the article and infographic with your guided reading groups, using the close-reading and critical-thinking questions to discuss how the two texts are connected. As you meet with groups, other students can work independently or in pairs on the Synthesizing Skill Builder.

Text-to-Speech