The Literary Food Truck Project is the perfect way to wrap up any novel, short story, or play in your 8th–12th grade ELA class while encouraging deep and creative thinking, symbolic analysis, and authentic student voice.
 
In this summative project, students design their own text-inspired food truck, connecting menu items, visuals, and branding to characters, themes, and plot elements from a text they've read in class. It’s a flexible project that works with any literary text and gives students creative choice while still hitting your academic goals.
 
🧠 What’s Included:
✅ Editable Google Slides — perfect for digital classrooms or Google Classroom
✅ Printable version — everything ready-to-go for a paper-based option
✅ Student instructions + project breakdown
✅ Choice Task options (social media posts, yelp reviews, truck playlist, and more!)
✅ Printable templates for truck sketches, menu boards, brainstorming docs, and an evidence tracker
✅ Editable rubric (4-point scale with clear categories)
✅ Teacher example: Sample menu inspired by The Hunger Games
✅ BONUS video walkthrough with tips, examples, and extra extension ideas!
 
🎯 Why Teachers Love It:
✨ Student-centered + flexible — works with any novel, play, or short story
🔍 Standards-aligned — focuses on character analysis, theme, symbolism, and comprehension
🧠 Perfect for end-of-semester or end-of-year burnout — rigorous but FUN
🖍️ Encourages creativity + critical thinking — great alternative to a traditional lit analysis essay
🎉 Easy to differentiate for all levels