If you’ve never tried Cereal Box Book Reports, I suggest you give it a try! Teachers are always looking for unique ways to assess their students’ comprehension of fiction books and novels they have read. Many teachers find traditional book report alternatives to be extremely helpful in getting students excited about reading. Sometimes, however, students crave something a little bit different. Enter Cereal Box Book Reports!
A few years ago, I started using Cereal Box Book Reports as a Reading project. My students LOVED making them, I noticed a big difference in their engagement in the book report process, and they were so excited to share their final projects. We even left the finished products on display in the classroom!
I suggest having a parent helper work with you to cover all the cereal boxes with white bulletin board paper before you introduce the projects. It saves a TON of work! Before we began the project, I gave each student a scoring rubric so they knew exactly what was expected. We went over the rubric together. Then, I explained that cereal names must correlate to the novel they had chosen to read. These two projects were for the books Charlotte’s Web and Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone . My students loved having the freedom to choose their own novel (pre-approved) and get creative in matching the theme of their cereal box book report to the book!
While creating their reports, students wrote the book summaries on one side panel of the cereal box. They identified and described the setting and main characters on the other side panel. On the back of the cereal box book report, students created a fun game or activity related to the book. Some made a word search, while others designed mazes, word scrambles, or riddles. The title, name of the author, and book ratings were added to the top of the cereal box book reports.
