Diary of A Wimpy Kid - Discussion Guide

Book
Discussion Guide
to accompany Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney
(978-0-141-32490-6, £6.99)
#wimpykid
www.wimpykidclub.co.uk
DIARY OF A WIMPY KID®, WIMPY KID™, and the Greg Heffley design™
23872 are trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.
About the
and this guide.
Jeff Kinney’s Diary of a Wimpy Kid series is one of the most popular series of children’s books currently on the
market. Alongside the books, published in the UK since 2007, there have also been three films, stationery ranges,
calendars, board games, apparel and other merchandise. As of 2015, there were over 150 million Diary of a Wimpy Kid
books in print worldwide.
The humorous nature of the books provides a familiar context through which universally recognisable childhood
issues, both at home and at school, can be addressed without children feeling threatened or awkward. Consequently
the books are enjoyed by children, parents and teachers alike. The fictional experiences of Greg Heffley, the main
character, mirror events in children’s own lives and they therefore find it very easy to relate to the antics in which
Greg becomes involved.
Jeff Kinney’s cartoons, which reinforce the text, provide a visual reference, helping the children to understand what
they are reading and adding to their enjoyment as they picture what Greg, his friends and family are up to. For
many children, especially younger or more reluctant readers, the addition of the cartoons helps to make the books
accessible and ensures greater engagement with these hilarious stories.
The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books make excellent starting points for discussion. These guides outline a host of ideas for
discussions and other activities that can be used in the classroom, in a reading group or at home.
The activities within the guides are suitable for ages 7-11. They provide teaching ideas to help you deliver the literacy
components of the primary curriculum as well as many additional ideas for PSE, Health and Wellbeing, Drama, Art
and Technology. There are lots of ideas for discussion sessions, both to help the children further understand the
texts they are reading and to probe more deeply into the problem areas with which the characters engage. The guides
provide stimulating ideas which will encourage collaborative learning and real engagement with the books.
We hope you will find the ideas useful when planning for your students’ activities as our aim is to ensure learning is fun!
Millions of kids are readers

because of these books
BOOK 10 COMING
NOVEMBER 2015
Find more resources at wimpykidclub.co.uk/teachers
#wimpykid
23872 2 are trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.
Introduction
This hilarious book, written as a personal diary that includes the type of cartoons one might expect from a middle-
grade (or primary-school) child, follows antihero Greg Heffley as he moves from one crisis to the next in his bid to
become popular and to appear cool.
As Greg starts his second year in middle school, he is trying to establish his place in the complex hierarchy of school
popularity. His best friend, Rowley Jefferson, does not seem to understand the importance of appearances and is way
down the league table. How Greg deals with this and the other issues that affect a boy of his age, such as school tests
and avoiding bullies, makes for an entertaining read.
At home, Greg’s family are another source of frustration! Mom seems to do everything possible to embarrass Greg.
Even at school Greg isn’t safe from her influence. Mom forces Greg to audition for the school play and then – the
ultimate humiliation – she appears as his substitute teacher for the day!
Greg’s trials do not stop there and he has to deal with a dad who does not understand his love of video games, an
attention-seeking younger brother and an annoying older brother who plays in a heavy metal band called Löded
Diper. However, it is his shifting relationship with best friend Rowley that forces Greg to make some interesting
choices in the first book of the series!
#wimpykid
Understanding the text
1. (Page 2) ‘GREGORY! TELL US ABOUT YOUR CHILDHOOD!’ Greg imagines that his journal will be useful when he
is rich and famous and everyone wants to know all about him. Why do we want to know all about rich and famous
people and the details about their early lives? Ask the children to discuss which events in their life people might be
interested in if they became rich and famous.
2. ( Pages 4–5) Greg gives advice on what to do on the first day of school. Would this be good advice to follow?
Ask the children what advice they would give to someone on their first day of school. Encourage them to list up
to five things.
Today is the first day of school, and right now Jason Brill came in late and almost sat to my
we’re just waiting around for the teacher to hurry right, but luckily I stopped that from happening
up and finish the seating chart. So I figured I at the last second.
might as well write in this book to pass the time.
By the way, let me give you some good advice. On

the first day of school, you’ve got to be real careful
where you sit. You walk into the classroom and just
plunk your stuff down on any old desk and the
next thing you know the teacher is saying –
Next period, I should just sit in the middle of a
bunch of hot girls as soon as I step in the
room. But I guess if I do that, it just proves
I didn’t learn anything from last year.
So in this class, I got stuck with Chris Hosey in

front of me and Lionel James at the back of me.
4 5
#wimpykid
3. ( Page 15) ‘But if there’s one thing I learned from Rodrick, it’s to set people’s expectations real low so you end up
surprising them by practically doing nothing at all.’ Do the children agree with this statement? Why would it feel
good if people didn’t expect much of them? Could holding this sort of opinion of someone actually stop them
reaching their potential? Why might this be the case?
4. (Pages 17–18) Greg had been trying to avoid Rowley since the first day of school. Do the children think his reasons
for this were fair? What would they do in his situation? What was wrong with Rowley asking Greg to ‘come over to
my house and play’? Does it matter what others think?
5. ( Page 40) Mom and Dad have different ideas on punishment. Does the class agree with Mom or Dad’s way of
dealing with things? Is it fair for Mom to wait and punish Greg when he least expects it? Have the class discuss what
punishments they think would be suitable for different misdemeanours!
6. (Pages 44-45) Why does Greg want to run for Treasurer? Is this the right reason to want to sign up? Why should
people want to be part of a school parliament? What kind of qualities do the children think a Treasurer should have?
Thursday And even better . . .

At school today, they announced that student
government elections are coming up. To be honest
with you, I've never had any interest in student
government. But when I started thinking about
it, I realized getting elected Treasurer could
TOTALLY change my situation at school.
Nobody ever thinks about running for Treasurer,

because all anyone ever cares about are the big-
ticket positions like President and Vice President.
So I figure if I sign up tomorrow, the
Treasurer job is pretty much mine for the taking.
Friday
Today, I went and put my name on the list to
run for Treasurer. Unfortunately, this kid named
Marty Porter is running for Treasurer, too, and
he's real brainy at maths. So this might not be
as easy as I thought.
44 45
#wimpykid
7. ( Page 62) Greg comments, ‘I’ve never had a store-bought costume before.’ Discuss whether Halloween costumes
should be home-made or store-bought.
8. (Page 95) Mom wants Greg to audition for the school play, but he does not think it is a good idea. If you have a
specific talent, to what extent do you think you should be encouraged to develop it? When does encouragement
change to become ‘forcing’ by parents?
9. (Page 117) Greg said he was told to ‘start my wish list over and pick some toys that were more appropriate for boys’.
Why do Mom and Dad hold different opinions on this? Do the children think there should be specific toys for girls
and boys? And why (or why not)?
10. (Pages 123-124) On Christmas Day, Greg doesn’t think much of his presents. ‘I guess I didn’t do a good job of
hiding my disappointment and Mom got mad.’ Was Greg ungrateful? Should we hide our real reactions to gifts?
The rest of the relatives started showing up But it was just an 8 x 10 picture of Uncle Charlie.
around 11:00, and Uncle Charlie came at noon.
Uncle Charlie brought a big trash bag full of

gifts, and he pulled my present out of the top
of the bag.
I guess I didn’t do a good job of hiding my

disappointment, and Mom got mad. All I can say
is, I’m glad I’m still a kid, because if I had to
The package was the exact right size and shape act happy about the kinds of gifts grown-ups
to be a Twisted Wizard game, so I knew Uncle get, I don’t think I could pull it off.
Charlie came through for me. Mom got the camera
ready and I tore open my gift.
123 124
#wimpykid
In-depth discussion points
Popularity
(Page 6) ‘Man, I don’t know WHAT is up with girls these days.’ Do the children think being the most popular at school
matters? Why does who is the most popular change? Is it important to have lots of friends or just a few really close
friends?
Man, I don’t know WHAT is up with girls these

days. It used to be a whole lot simpler back in
elementary school. The deal was, if you were the
fastest runner in your class, you got all the girls.
And in the fifth grade, the fastest runner was

Ronnie McCoy.
Nowadays, it’s a whole lot more complicated. Now

it’s about the kind of clothes you wear or how rich
you are or if you have a cute butt or whatever.
And kids like Ronnie McCoy are scratching their
heads wondering what the heck happened.
The most popular boy in my grade is Bryce

Anderson. The thing that really stinks is that
I have ALWAYS been into girls, but kids like
Bryce have only come around in the last couple
of years.
(Page 6) ‘Now it’s about the kind of clothes you wear or how rich you are...’ To what extent do the children think
wearing the right clothes to school could affect their popularity? Do they think that wearing school uniform helps
make everyone the same? Ask them to list the pros and cons of a school uniform.
#wimpykid
Video/Computer Games
(Page 24) Children spending time playing video/computer games is a contentious issue in many households. Greg’s
love of video games is referred to throughout the book and he states that he is ‘SUPER good at video games’ but
unfortunately Dad doesn’t appreciate his skills!
Why does Dad think differently from Greg on this topic? What would Dad rather he was doing? What argument does
Greg have for being allowed to spend all his time playing video games? What opinion does Rowley’s dad hold? Is it the
same as Greg’s dad’s view?
Split the children into small groups and ask them to compare the different opinions held by the adults and the
children in the story. They could hold a debate on the subject.
Tuesday
I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I
am SUPER good at video games. I'll bet I could
beat anyone in my grade head-to-head.
Unfortunately, Dad does not exactly appreciate

my skills. He's always getting on me about going
out and doing something “active”.
So tonight after dinner when Dad started

hassling me about going outside, I tried to
explain how with video games, you can play sports
like football and soccer, and you don't even get all
hot and sweaty.
But as usual, Dad didn't see my logic.
24
#wimpykid
Doing the Right Thing

(Page 182–183) Greg was worried about what to do in his ‘tough situation’ as he tried to decide whether or not to tell
the truth about chasing the kids with the worms. Although Mom didn’t know what the exact issue was, she advised
Greg to ‘do the right thing’. Can the children think of reasons why they think he did, or did not, do the right thing?
What might have happened if he had done the right thing in the first place?
Ask the children to discuss this statement: ‘Adults are forever telling children to do this or that in specific situations.’
Do the children agree or disagree with the statement? Why do adults tell children what to do in a specific situation?
Greg eventually tells Rowley the truth about what happened. Was Rowley’s reaction surprising or to be expected?
Were Rowley’s next actions justified? Can the children think of a different way to punish Greg?
I knew I should probably just tell Mr Winsky it I figure that's pretty decent advice. But I'm still
was me who chased the kids with the worms. But not 100% sure what I'm going to do tomorrow.
I wasn't ready to set the record straight just
yet. I knew if I confessed, I'd lose my hot Thursday
chocolate privileges. And that right there was Well, I was up all night tossing and turning
enough to make me keep quiet for the time being. over this Rowley situation, but I finally made
up my mind. I decided the right thing to do
At dinner tonight, Mom could tell something was to just let Rowley take one for the team
was bothering me, so she came up to my room this time around.
afterwards to talk.
I told her I was in a tough situation, and I

didn't know what to do.
I got to give Mom credit for how she handled

it. She didn't try to pry and get all the details.
All she said was that I should try to do the
“right thing”, because it's our choices that make
us who we are.
On the way home from school, I came clean with
Rowley and told him the whole truth about what
happened, and how it was me who chased the
kids with the worms.
182 183
#wimpykid
Relationships
The relationship between Greg and Rowley is one of the central themes of the book. Working together, the children
could make a comparison chart showing the differences between the two characters and use this as a central point
for a display. How does the relationship between Greg and Rowley alter as the story progresses? Was what happened
between them in the story surprising or not? Creating a cause-and-effect flow chart as you read the book could help
the children understand why the relationship alters as Rowley becomes more confident and popular. You could also
relate what happened in the book to the children’s own experiences.
#wimpykid
Main project
School Council – IT’s all
about advertising!
Objective:
Organize a pupil council/school government election for your class/school.
Curriculum areas:
Literacy, expressive arts, ICT.
Starting point:
Read pages 44 to 45 to the class. After reading the extract, discuss why Greg was interested in standing for the pupil
council in the first place. What did he do to try and get himself elected? What mistakes did he make? What can we
learn from this?
Thursday And even better . . .

At school today, they announced that student
government elections are coming up. To be honest
with you, I've never had any interest in student
government. But when I started thinking about
it, I realized getting elected Treasurer could
TOTALLY change my situation at school.
Nobody ever thinks about running for Treasurer,

because all anyone ever cares about are the big-
ticket positions like President and Vice President.
So I figure if I sign up tomorrow, the
Treasurer job is pretty much mine for the taking.
Friday
Today, I went and put my name on the list to
run for Treasurer. Unfortunately, this kid named
Marty Porter is running for Treasurer, too, and
he's real brainy at maths. So this might not be
as easy as I thought.
44 45
#wimpykid
Main project
about advertising!
Project outline:
Split the children into groups and give them the following scenario:
Imagine your school is setting up a pupil council and needs a committee to organize the election procedure. The
children should discuss as a group what they would need to do and make a list of their ideas. Then the children should
allocate jobs for each group member to complete and agree the timescales.
Main Activities
1. C hildren brainstorm everything they might need to do to set up their own election. Some starting ideas are:
Decide on location for the election and voting procedures (including the ballot papers)
What marketing materials, such as leaflets and posters, would be needed?
Candidate selection – how could they go about this? Would they need to have class speech days to decide who the
main candidates would be?
2. A
llocate specific jobs. There must be a project manager whose job will be to ensure everyone meets the
deadlines the group sets. Have regular meetings with the project manager to ensure the arrangements are
in place for the big day.
#wimpykid
Main project
about advertising!
3. R
e-examine Greg’s poster campaign. Ask the children to think of more appropriate ideas that he could have included.
Monday I started hanging my posters up as soon as I

I brought my posters in to school today, and I got in. But they were only up for about three
have to say, they came out pretty good. minutes before Vice Principal Roy spotted them.
Mr Roy said you weren't allowed to write

“fabrications” about the other candidates. So I
told Mr Roy that the thing about the head lice
was true, and how it practically closed down the
whole school when it happened.
But he took down all my posters anyway. So today,

Marty Porter was going around handing out lollipops
to buy himself votes while my posters were sitting at
the bottom of Mr Roy's trash can. I guess this
means my political career is officially over.
47 48
4. Encourage the children to create a poster to put their group’s candidate forward for election. What ideas could
they include? How could they use graphics and text to make it more interesting and eye-catching? Suggest they use
a publishing programme (e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, Word or Publisher) to give this a professional look, or use the
template provided.
5. All good committee members make great speeches! Discuss how to structure these and what sort of things
they should include. How do these speeches differ from the marketing posters? How do we keep the audience
interested? Prompt the children to imagine they are Greg and write his election speech! Discuss what they could
include. To help the children with this planning lesson, it would be a good idea to have some examples to show
them so that they really understand what they are aiming for.
#wimpykid
Main project
about advertising!
Now ask the children to write their own candidate speeches. Suggest a word limit of between 300–500 words,
depending of the age and ability of the children involved. You could also treat this as a team-writing exercise if you
wanted to limit the number of candidates. You may wish to set aside a couple of lesson slots for this activity. Use the
accompanying worksheet to help here.
6. S
peech Day! The children should present their election speeches to their peers. Get them to focus on delivery
techniques. If they have been writing as a team, encourage the team to work with the candidate to ensure he/she
knows how to deliver the speech to best advantage.
7. The Big Event! Hold an election and elect your candidate(s)! You may wish to use the detailed Wimpy Kid Elections
resources at wimpykidclub.co.uk/teachers to help here.
8. B
ecome a reporter. Ask the children to write an article for the school newspaper. They could interview the
different candidates or write a piece on the winner. They could also write a radio interview script and record
this to play to the class.
Teacher’s
Note:
Please visit wimpykidclub.co.uk/teachers to find the Diary of a Wimpy Kid Election Pack. This is a
series of lesson plans to help pupils vote for their favourite Wimpy Kid book, while learning about
different voting systems and processes.
#wimpykid
Other Activity Ideas
1. Split the children into groups and ask them to choose a scene from the book to turn into a drama script. Encourage
them to write scripts and perform these to their peer group.
2. ( Page 62) Greg doesn’t seem to have much imagination when it comes to Halloween costumes. Individually or in
groups, the children could design a new Halloween costume for him. They might like to try making a mock-up of it
using craft materials.
His knight outfit came with a helmet and a shield

and a real sword and EVERYTHING.
I’ve never had a store-bought costume before. I

still haven't figured out what I'm gonna go as
tomorrow night, so I'll probably just throw
something together at the last minute. I figure
maybe I'll bring back the Toilet Paper Mummy again.
But I think it’s supposed to rain tomorrow

night, so that might not be the smartest choice.
62
3. ( Page 58) Greg’s and Rowley’s ideas for their haunted-house activities were not very good. Ask the children to
design their own haunted house activities.
#wimpykid
Other Project Ideas
4. (Pages 138-139) Greg has to write thank-you letters for some unwanted Christmas gifts. After reading this section,
ask the children to think of some presents they would be unhappy to receive and prompt them to write humorous
thank-you letters for the gifts. Or try writing a poem in the style of ‘Christmas Thank Yous’ by Mick Gowar.
I thought I could just crank out my thank-you

cards in a half hour, but when it came to actually
writing them, my mind went blank.
Let me tell you, it's not easy writing thank-you

notes for stuff you didn't want in the first place.
I started with the non-clothes items, because I My system worked out pretty well for the first
thought they'd be easiest. But after two or couple of gifts, but after that, not so much.
three cards, I realized I was practically writing
the same thing every time.
So I wrote up a general form on the computer

with blanks for the things that needed to change.
Writing the cards from there was a breeze.
138 139
5. ( Page 147) Greg and his friends came up with a list of things they would like their robot to be able to do. Ask the
children to work in groups to create a list of things they would want their own robot to do for them. They could
work together to create a storyboard with robot design ideas and then build one out of junk materials.
#wimpykid
MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
1.
Draw a poster
VOTE
FOR
……...!
#wimpykid
23872 i are trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.
MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
2.
Greg’s Election Speech
#wimpykid
23872 ii are trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.
MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
3.
My Election Speech by
------------------
#wimpykid
23872 iii are trademarks of Wimpy Kid, Inc. All rights reserved.

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What are the main themes of the book series?

What are the main themes of the book series?

How do the illustrations contribute to the story?

How do the illustrations contribute to the story?

Book

and this guide.

Millions of kids are readers

Find more resources at wimpykidclub.co.uk/teachers

By the way, let me give you some good advice. On

So in this class, I got stuck with Chris Hosey in

Thursday And even better . . .

Nobody ever thinks about running for Treasurer,

Uncle Charlie brought a big trash bag full of

I guess I didn’t do a good job of hiding my

Man, I don’t know WHAT is up with girls these

And in the fifth grade, the fastest runner was

Nowadays, it’s a whole lot more complicated. Now

The most popular boy in my grade is Bryce

Unfortunately, Dad does not exactly appreciate

So tonight after dinner when Dad started

But as usual, Dad didn't see my logic.

Doing the Right Thing

I told her I was in a tough situation, and I

I got to give Mom credit for how she handled

Thursday And even better . . .

Nobody ever thinks about running for Treasurer,

Monday I started hanging my posters up as soon as I

Mr Roy said you weren't allowed to write

But he took down all my posters anyway. So today,

His knight outfit came with a helmet and a shield

I’ve never had a store-bought costume before. I

But I think it’s supposed to rain tomorrow

I thought I could just crank out my thank-you

Let me tell you, it's not easy writing thank-you

So I wrote up a general form on the computer

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