charlotte's web cereal box book report

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How to Make a Cereal Box Book Report

Reading is a fundamental part of early education. Studies even show that reading to newborns helps their brain development and can improve vocabulary later on. Reading opens doors to learning, and will be an essential part of schooling forever. 

Chances are that sometime in your mom life you will have a child that needs a book report, and chances are that you also purchase a large amount of boxed cereal. This creates the perfect scenario for these cereal box book reports . They are a fun way for kids to share what they learned in their reading, and a practical way to reduce, reuse and recycle those old cereal boxes. 

The first few steps in the cereal box book reports would be to read the book and buy a box of cereal if you don’t already have a box laying around. If you don’t already have a stash of cereal boxes, it could be fun to let your child pick out the cereal from the store with the book report in mind for the end result. 

The cover of the cereal box is usually bright, colorful, and has the name of the cereal unmistakably large on the front. The front of the box is a lot of real estate for your child to get creative. The cereal name should be the title of the book. The art work on the front should hint to the storyline just like the cover of a book would. 

One side of the cereal box usually has nutrition facts and an ingredients list. The setting of the story can be described in this column. The setting should include things like the location, the era of time. Setting can best be remembered as the time and place. If the setting is described well it is possible for someone to get the feeling of being in the book without having ever opened it. 

Main Characters

The other side of the cereal box is where your child can describe the main characters of the story. Describing the setting and main characters are the fundamentals of a good book report. Main character descriptions can include things like age, role, personality, relationship to other characters, physical appearance, etc. 

Traditionally, the back of the cereal box usually has a maze, a word search, or some kind of activity that kids love to do over and over again. I think we all had that one sibling who did the activity in pen and ruined it for everyone else. The activity should somehow be related to the book. A word search with main character names or setting details, or title and author information could be included. 

Why Book Reports are Important

Book reports are a great way to gauge how well a child understood what they read. Reading comprehension is the only way that reading is beneficial to a child. Making book reports fun and engaging for children could help them have a better relationship with reading. Cereal box book reports are sure to be a hit with your children, and will also help them learn and grow academically. If you try it out, be sure to leave a comment! 

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Revamping Book Reports: How Cereal Box Book Report Promotes Creativity and Critical Thinking Skills

Calling all educators and parents! Do you remember the days of boring book reports? Times have changed and it’s time we switched things up to promote creativity and critical thinking skills. One alternative method that has gained popularity is the cereal box book report . Not only does it provide a fun way for students to showcase their literary comprehension, but it also integrates design elements into education. Let’s explore how using cereal boxes as a unique tool can help revamp conventional assignments and improve overall enthusiasm for reading in young learners. Download here today !

How to Use the Cereal Box Book Report

After reading a fiction book students will design a cereal based on the book to promote critical thinking skills and make the book report and writing part fun. This creative writing project comes with real-life examples and photos. My favorite part is the character ingredient list and the special prize inside part of this book report. Students love this creative cereal box book report because they get to be creative and it is different than just a normal paragraph book writing assignment. In addition, this includes printable templates for students to write on and cut and glue onto a standard-size cereal box so you can display these book reports on real cereal boxes!  Ready to make learning fun and end boring book reports with these create a cereal report? Download here today !

See what others are saying:

“My students loved this resource! It is a great alternative to a traditional book report. It is very creative and engaging for students to interact with the content of the book in a more in depth way. Thank you!”

“We used this after reading a novel.  The entire class created the report using the same book, and the boxes were so creative and unique.  None were the same!!  Thank you for putting this together. “

“I loved this resource! My students did an amazing job on this activity. Everything was well designed, and the students understood what to do. Great resource! Thanks!”

Grab it here today !

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Cereal Box Book Report Project

Due: Monday, September 19, 2011

1. Choose a book on which to report. The book needs to be a Just-Right Chapter Book.

That means students should be interested in reading the book and be able to fluently

read a page without missing 5 or more words.

2. Get an empty cereal box (If you have trouble finding a cereal box, please let me

3. Cover each side of the box (except the bottom) with light-colored construction paper.

(If you need paper please see me.)

5. Draw and color the cover of the book on the front of the cereal box, including the title

of the book.

6. On one side panel, list the characters and setting (time and place) of the story.

7. The other side panel needs to include a summary of the story. (At least 4 sentences)

8. Here’s the fun part: On the back of the cereal box, create a puzzle such as a maze,

word search or crossword puzzle that relates to the story.

9. Finally, here’s the very best part: Put a toy surprise inside the box to show to the

class when you present the report. This could be a small toy spider for

Charlotte’s

Web , a little dog for Sounder , a small monkey for Summer of the Monkeys , or as easy

as a rock for Stone Soup . Be creative!

10. Present your book report to the class explaining every side of the cereal box. Then,

show off your toy surprise!

To receive the total points the students need to complete the following:

Creativity- Cover the cereal box with construction paper and decorate the front of your cereal box as the front cover of your book (also include the title of your book on the front) (10 pts.)

One side panel needs to include a list of the characters in the book and the setting (time and place) of the story. (10 pts.)

Another side panel needs to include a summary of the book. (At least

4 sentences) (10 pts.)

Backside of the cereal box includes a maze, word search, or crossword puzzle that relates to the story. (Be creative) (5 pts.)

Include a toy surprise in the box to show the class (5pts.)

Oral Presentation-Present your project to the class (10 pts.)

Project is turned in on time (5pts.)

* Total Possible Points55 points

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Cereal Box Book Report: A Creative Writing Project & Activity for Gifted Students

• Categories : High school english lesson plans grades 9 12
• Tags : High school lesson plans & tips

• Cereal Box - empty and in good shape (no torn off tops or crushed sides)
• Butcher Paper - assorted colors
• Construction Paper or Scrapbooking Paper
• Assorted scrapbooking decorations/stickers
• Packing tape
• Fishing Line

How to Make a Cereal Box Book Report

Tape both ends with packing tape to seal down the flaps and to keep them from poking up after wrapping. Using butcher paper, wrap the cereal box much like you would a Christmas present, but being sure not to go too crazy on the tape. The boxes look best when wrapped in a neutral color like white, gray, or beige.

The front of the box will have the title of the book, author name, and a picture or object that symbolizes the story. Tell students to select an image or object that would most likely be a movie poster if this book were to be made in to a film. Encourage them to refrain from using an image similar to what is already on the cover of the book they are reporting. Creativity should play a huge part in the overall grading and you want them to come up with an image for the front of the box that is meaningful, but different from the novel’s cover. Students can draw their own image, use clip art they’ve printed from a computer, or use 3-D objects. For example, I had a student create cereal box for the short story, “A Rose for Emily” and hot glue a withered, dried rose to the front of the box and also added a Barbie-size hair brush with a few steel-Grey wig hairs weaved in the bristles. Not only should the image be striking, but the title and author’s name should be bold and visible on the front of the box.

Step Three:

On the back of the box, you can use this space to have students illustrate their knowledge of a lesson you have studied in conjunction with the novel, or if the book is fiction, you could require students to construct a plot pyramid, being sure to use examples from the novel for each step of the pyramid. Non-fiction books could create a time-line of the novel, or a “Facts & Figures” chart that displays the main facts from the book. Require two or three symbolic images that represent the book in some way.

Side one of the cereal box should list the “ingredients”, or characters in the novel. Each main character should also have a few sentences that describe their physical and personality traits. You can require a picture or object that symbolizes each character. The scrap-booking aisles of craft stores offer great stickers and trinkets that would be great for character symbols. Using the novel The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton as an example, students found a tiny jean jacket for Johnny and a miniature football helmet for Derry to glue next to their names and descriptions. It is unbelievable how many different stickers and trinkets you can find in the scrap-booking section! Also keep in mind that I encourage students to type up their descriptions and other textual items on the computer and print them using aesthetically pleasing font and color. Simply writing the information directly on to the butcher paper will appear sloppy and will not leave much room for error. Typing, printing, cutting and pasting on to the box is the student’s best bet and will look the best for the final product.

Side two of the cereal box needs to describe the setting of the story, and include a paragraph description. Side two should also note whether the story was written in first or third person or explain the author’s style of the work (stream of consciousness or prose writing, for example).

The top of the box should contain a theme statement that the student created to best fit the story. You can also require symbolic pictures to accompany the theme statement.

Step Seven:

The bottom of the box will contain two tone words that best describe the first half of the work and then two additional tone words that describe the second half of the work. Images and pictures that represent the tone words can also be required.

Report Presentation

Upon completing the cereal boxes, students should present them to the class; taking time to explain and describe each aspect of the box to the class. I like to display the completed boxes by puncturing the upper corner of the box with a large needle and weaving a length of fishing line through the top. I then suspend the boxes from my classroom ceiling to show off the student’s hard work. The hanging boxes are eye-catching and are also a great way to promote reading in your classroom. Students may venture to try a book they’d never dared to because the cereal box hanging from your ceiling piqued their interest!

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