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Book report projects and rubrics
Cereal box book report
Turn a cereal box into an ad for the book: each side of the box tells a different part.
- Cover a cereal box with plain paper.
- Plan each side on this sheet first.
- Draw and write on the box, then bring it in.
An example: The Tortoise and the Hare
- Front
- The Tortoise and the Hare, an old fable. Cereal: Slow-and-Steady Flakes.
- Front picture
- (A drawing: The tortoise plodding past the sleeping hare, with a finish line.)
- One side
- The hare: fast and boastful. The tortoise: slow and stubborn.
- Other side
- Outside, on race day, along a course that passes a shady tree.
- Back
- Hare says he is the fastest and asks who will race him. Tortoise says he will. Hare zooms ahead, and he is so sure he will win that he lies down under a tree for a nap.
- Top
- Four stars, for anyone who has ever been told they're too slow.
Book poster
A poster that makes the class want to read the book, like a film poster.
- Plan the poster on this sheet.
- Sketch it in pencil on a big sheet.
- Colour it, and make the title easy to read from across the room.
An example: The Gingerbread Man
- Title and author
- The Gingerbread Man, a folk tale.
- The big picture
- (A drawing: The gingerbread man running across a field with everyone chasing him.)
- The problem
- A gingerbread man jumps out of the oven and runs from everyone who tries to catch him.
- Three things to know
- He is fast. He sings that nobody can catch him. He can't swim, and a fox offers him a ride across the river.
- A tagline
- Run, run, as fast as you can.
Diorama plan
A scene from the book built inside a shoebox: plan it here first.
- Pick the scene that matters most.
- Plan what goes at the back, in the middle and in front.
- List what you'll make it from, then build it.
An example: Goldilocks and the Three Bears
- The scene
- Goldilocks asleep in the little bed when the bears come home, because it's when she's found out.
- At the back
- The bears' bedroom wall with a window and the woods outside.
- In the middle
- Three bears in the doorway, looking at the bed.
- In front
- The little bowl of porridge, empty, on a stool.
- A sketch
- (A drawing: A bedroom with three beds of three sizes and three bears in the door.)
- Made from
- A shoebox, card for the beds, clay for the bears, a scrap of cloth for a blanket.
Book collage
Pictures and words cut out and arranged to show what the book is about underneath the story.
- Decide what the book is really about.
- Collect pictures and words that fit.
- Arrange them, glue them, and label three of them.
An example: The Little Red Hen
- What the book is really about
- Doing your share of the work.
- Pictures to find
- Wheat, a loaf of bread, a hen, a busy kitchen, friends lying in the sun.
- Words to find
- Not I! · I will · Who will plant it? · Fresh bread · Hard work
- Three labels
- The wheat: the hen did every step herself. The friends in the sun: Dog, Cat and Pig wouldn't help. The bread: her chicks eat it, not the friends who said Not I.
Character card
A trading card for one character: what they look like, what they do and how they change.
- Pick a character.
- Find what the book says about them.
- Fill the card and draw them.
An example: Lion and Mouse
- Name
- The mouse, from Lion and Mouse.
- Picture
- (A drawing: A tiny mouse gnawing at a rope net.)
- Looks like
- Small and quick, small enough for the lion to laugh at.
- Says and does
- Says "I can help you"; nibbles through the net that traps the lion.
- Strength and weakness
- Strength: small teeth that can nibble a net. Weakness: small enough for a lion to catch.
- How they change
- The mouse starts as the lion's catch and ends as its rescuer: small can help big.
Comic-strip retelling
Tell the whole story again in six panels, with speech bubbles.
- Pick the six moments that tell the story.
- Plan the words for each panel here.
- Draw the panels, then add the speech bubbles last.
An example: The Three Little Pigs
- Panel 1: the start
- Three pigs set off from home to build houses of their own.
- Panel 2: the problem
- A wolf comes to the straw house and wants to come in.
- Panel 3
- He huffs and puffs and blows the straw house down; the pig runs to his brother.
- Panel 4
- He blows the stick house down too; two pigs run to the brick house.
- Panel 5: the turn
- He huffs and puffs at the brick house, and it doesn't move.
- Panel 6: the end
- The pigs are safe together in the brick house. 'Slow work, but strong!'
Book report rubrics by grade
Plain words a child can read before they start: what a finished project shows, and what getting there looks like. Teachers' own rubrics come first.
Kindergarten to 2nd grade
Book report rubric · Kindergarten to 2nd grade · Name ____________ Book ____________
| My project… | Got it ✓✓ | Getting there ✓ | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| The story | Shows the start, the problem and the end | Shows one or two of them | Doesn't show the story yet |
| The characters | Names them and shows who they are | Names them | Not shown yet |
| My picture | Fits the book and shows a real moment | Fits the book | Doesn't fit the book yet |
| What I think | Says if I liked it and why | Says if I liked it | Not said yet |
3rd to 5th grade
Book report rubric · 3rd to 5th grade · Name ____________ Book ____________
| My project… | Got it ✓✓ | Getting there ✓ | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| The story | Retells the main events in order, without the ending given away | Retells some events, or out of order | Doesn't retell the story yet |
| The characters | Explains what the main character wants and how they change | Describes the main character | Names the characters only |
| The setting | Says where and when, and why it matters | Says where and when | Not shown yet |
| Evidence | Uses details from the book to back up ideas | Uses one detail | No details from the book yet |
| Care and effort | Neat, complete and easy to follow | Mostly complete | Unfinished |
6th to 8th grade
Book report rubric · 6th to 8th grade · Name ____________ Book ____________
| My project… | Got it ✓✓ | Getting there ✓ | Not yet |
|---|---|---|---|
| Theme | Names a theme and shows how the book builds it | Names a theme | No theme yet |
| Character | Explains a character's choices and what drives them | Describes a character's choices | Describes the character only |
| Evidence | Quotes or points to specific moments for each idea | Some evidence, not for every idea | No evidence yet |
| The writer's craft | Notices how the writer tells the story (point of view, structure, words) | Mentions one choice the writer made | Not yet |
| Opinion | Gives a clear judgment with reasons | Gives an opinion | No opinion yet |
The written templates: 3rd grade, 5th grade, 8th grade and the rest.