Ask students to collect a variety of paper types from home. These may include newspapers, magazines, construction paper, printer paper, book pages, wrapping paper and scrapbook paper. Make a classroom project of cutting the paper to 8 1/2 by 11 inches. Have each student bring an empty cereal box as well. Combine all of the collected paper and divide it into packets of about six pages each.
Assist your students in cutting their cereal box covers into two rectangles, each 4 1/2 by 6 inches. These will be the covers of their books. Instruct students to decorate their book covers with paint, crayons, markers or glued-on paper.
Have each student to lay a 10-inch piece of duct tape or clear packing tape vertically on a desk with the sticky side up. Tell them to center the covers on the tape so that the long edges match up with about 1/2 inch of space between them. Fold the ends of the tape over so that they cover the front of the covers, as well as the sticky part of the tape underneath. Place a 4-inch piece of tape over the gap between the ends of the tape. Use fingers to press the tape in the 1/2-inch gap between the covers and make sure it is well stuck together.
Have students stack their six pages together and then fold them in half, so they are 4 1/4 by 5 1/2 inches. Crease the fold well, then open the pages again. Line the fold up with the gap between the covers and use a long-arm stapler to place three or four staples along the fold. This is the finished book.
Alter the book pages. Pieces of waxed paper between the sheets keep them from sticking together. Ideas include producing decoupage art on pages, gluing plain paper to patterned paper for writing on, cutting the edges of the paper in decorative patterns or gluing on magazine pictures.