4th Grade Cereal Box Book Reports
Book reports are a rite of passage for elementary school students; everyone has done at least one. Teachers are continually looking for ways for their students to tackle this project, making it fun and fresh. St. Peter's fourth-grade teacher, Mrs. Snively, took the book report from dull to dynamite by having her students engage in a fun-to-make cereal box based on a book.
Each of the students read a fiction book of their choosing. Mrs. Snively tasked them with creating a cereal box based on the book. From the cereal's name to the prize in the box, everything told highlights of the story. On the front of the box was the cereal's name, which was a play on the book's title. The top of the box contained the title, author, number of pages, and student's rating of the book on a scale of 1 - 5 stars. One side of the box listed the "ingredients" in the book, in this case, the characters and setting where the story took place. The other side of the box provided a summary of the book without spoiling the ending. Like many children's cereal boxes, the box's back was a game designed by the students. Some were word searches; some were mazes; all were fun and creative.
As the students presented their cereal box report to the class, one of the highlights was the prize inside the box. There were items like shark's teeth, lego people that resembled the book’s characters, and a small walkie talkie. Reporting on the project gave the reader a chance to explain the book they read, and it allowed the rest of the class to be good audience members. After each report, the students had the chance to ask some great questions that showed they had been attentive listeners.
St. Peter's 4th graders did a fantastic job reporting on books like Percy Jackson and the Sea of Monsters, Little Women, and Blue Bay Mystery. Most of the books received at least four stars, if not more. The cereal box report was a clever way for the students to report on a book, display their creativity, and have a little fun at the same time!
