Discussion Guide: #Wimpykid
Discussion Guide: #Wimpykid
Discussion Guide
to accompany Diary of a Wimpy Kid: The Ugly Truth by Jeff Kinney
(978-0-141-34082-1, £6.99)
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About the
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!
BOOK 10 COMING
NOVEMBER 2015
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Introduction
In the fifth Diary of a Wimpy Kid book we once again get special access to the diary (sorry, journal) of the one and
only Greg Heffley.
In this book Greg auditions for a local ice-cream company advertisement but fails his audition due to being too old
(the part is for a 3–6-year-old). He explains that his family also discriminate against him because of his age, saying he
was the centre of attention when he was younger and is now ignored because of Manny, his younger brother.
Greg is then informed that his Uncle Gary will marry for the fourth time, and that the wedding reception will be held
at the home of Greg’s great-grandmother Gammie, a polite but sly and clever old woman. When that time comes,
Greg is dreading getting ‘the Talk’ from Gammie, which everyone in the family gets when they’re about Greg’s age.
Mom announces that she will be going back to college and that the Heffley men must take care of themselves, with
disastrous results. Greg is left with few clean clothes to wear, their attempts at cookery are a disaster, and Dad sprains
his ankle when they try to go out to eat.
Greg also complains that he must stay up late trying to finish his homework, since Mom often helps (by giving him all
the answers). In his sleep-deprived state Greg accidentally sets off the fire alarm at school and the entire school has
to evacuate.
There are even more problems at school when Greg fails a Health class assignment, where he must take care of an
egg like it is a baby (Mom cooks him scrambled eggs for breakfast using the egg), and at home where he has to deal
with an extremely lazy maid who refuses to do Greg’s laundry, hogs the TV and takes naps in Greg’s bed.
At school, a ‘Lock-In’ is organized where boys and girls have a supervised sleepover in the school hall. It turns out to
be a disaster – there are practically no girls, too many chaperones, and all technology is confiscated, making the event
very boring for Greg.
Rowley comes to school with a large pimple on his forehead, which makes Greg wonder about his growth spurt. At
Uncle Gary’s wedding, Greg is given ‘the Talk’ by Gammie who explains the physical and mental stress and horrors of
becoming an adult. Greg decides to try and enjoy his childhood for now and the book ends with Mom’s return from
college and Greg mending his friendship with Rowley.
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Understanding the text
1. (Page 1) ‘To be honest with you, I thought he would come crawling back to me by now.’ Greg and Rowley had not
spoken in two and a half weeks. Do the children think that Greg was right to expect Rowley to make the first move
towards reconciliation? Have they ever fallen out with someone and expected them to apologize?
SEPTEMBER
Thursday
It’s been almost two and a half weeks since me
and my ex-best friend, Rowley Jefferson, had our
big fight. To be honest with you, I thought he
would’ve come crawling back to me by now, but for
some reason, that hasn’t happened.
2. ( Page 7) Rowley and his mother have different ideas of what a role model should be. Why do the children think
that is? Do they have a role model that they look up to? What characteristics do they think are important in a role
model?
3. ( Page 12) ‘The reason me and Rowley didn’t make it is because we were equal partners in our friendship.’ Do the
children think that Greg and Rowley had an equal friendship? Why (or why not)? What benefits does being equal
bring to a friendship?
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Understanding the text
4. (Pages 30-32) ‘This isn’t the first time I’ve been discriminated against because of my age.’ Greg feels that as he
grows older he is less interesting to his family, especially since little brother Manny came along. Do the children
think Greg is being ‘discriminated’ against? Have they ever experienced discrimination due to their ages? How do
they think Greg’s family could reassure Greg?
MyMy opportunity
opportunity waswas slipping
slipping away,
away, so did
so I I did what
what II WeWe knew
knew thisthis
waswas
ourour
bigbig chance
chance to to
be be
on on
TV,TV,so so Then they brought in some little kids to take our
could
could to to improve
improve my my odds.
odds. we we plopped
plopped ourselves
ourselves in front
in front of of
thethe news
news camera
camera place, and they did the same EXACT thing me
andand really
really hammed
hammed it up.
it up. and Rowley were doing.
ButBut it took
it took about
about fivefive seconds
seconds forfor
thethe news
news people
people
ButBut it looks
it looks likelike
thethe
jobjob is gonna
is gonna go go
to to a younger
a younger to to
kickkick us out.
us out. And sure enough, those kids were on the news
kidkid after
after all,all, which
which really
really stinks.
stinks. that night.
YouYou know,
know, thisthis
isn’tisn’t
thethe first
first timetime
I’veI’ve
beenbeen The truth is, this kind of thing has been going
discriminated
discriminated against
against because
because of of
my myage,age, either.
either. on for a long time. And where it’s worst is in my
Last
Last October
October me me
andand Rowley
Rowley heard
heard thatthat
ourour
locallocal own family.
news
news station
station waswas
goinggoingto to
be be
at at
thethe RedRed Apple
Apple
Farm
Farm to to shoot
shoot footage
footage of of
kidskids carving
carving pumpkins
pumpkins Up until I was eight or nine, I was the star
andand making
making scarecrows
scarecrows andand stuff
stuff likelike that.
that. of every family gathering. It seemed like nobody
could get enough of me.
30 30 31 31 32
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Understanding the text
5. ( Page 40) Can the children remember the last time they wrote a letter to someone? With the technology we have
now (email, texting, etc.), do they think it is less important to be able to write a letter? What are the benefits of
being able to hand-write a letter?
40
6. (Page 55) Greg was used to Mom always being there for him after school. Do the children think Greg took Mom for
granted? Have they ever taken their family for granted? Do the children think that mothers should stay at home and
take care of their family? Or is it OK for them to go to college or work?
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Understanding the text
7. ( Pages 59-60) Why do the children think Greg and Dad didn’t want to tell the truth about their accidents? Should
we always tell the truth? Can the children think of examples of when it’s OK to not tell the truth and list possible
reasons to support these examples?
Dad chased Rodrick around the parking lot, but I can kind of understand why Dad didn’t want
Rodrick is actually pretty fast, and Dad couldn’t to tell the truth. One time I broke my wrist,
catch him. Then Dad tripped over a curb and and I told everyone I broke it in a fistfight.
twisted his ankle. What REALLY happened was that I tried to
stand up after my legs fell asleep from sitting on
the toilet too long. But I liked my version better.
Thursday
We brought back leftovers from the Spaghetti
Barn, and that’s what we had for dinner
tonight. Dad had to stay late at work, so he
called Rodrick and told him to warm up everyone’s
spaghetti in the microwave.
59 60
8. (Page 63) Greg thinks that Mom is better than Dad at helping with homework because she basically gives him the
answers. Should parents help children with their homework? How much help is too much? Do the children ever
need help with their homework?
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Understanding the text
9. (Pages 72-73) Why do the children think that older children are expected to take more responsibility around the
house? What do the children understand by the word ‘responsibility’? Discuss things that children should be
responsible for and at what age (e.g. buying their own clothes, travelling by bus to school, vacuuming their rooms, etc.).
I’ve heard this sort of thing from Dad before. It turns out the reason I couldn’t find the key
The last few weeks of the summer, our neighbor, was because it wasn’t in our house. I’d left it at
Ms. Grove, hired me to take care of her plants Ms. Grove’s, and she found it when she got back
while she was on a business trip. Well, I did it for from her trip.
the first few days, and then I guess you could
say I got busy with other things.
72 73
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Understanding the text
10. (Pages 81-82) A rumour spreads around Greg’s school about the fire alarm, resulting in the school being shut down
early. Why is spreading rumours a bad thing? What are the possible consequences of spreading rumours? Have
the children ever heard a rumour and believed it? What happened next?
I don’t know much, but what I DO know is So that got everyone REALLY paranoid.
that you shouldn’t announce what the punishment
is gonna be BEFORE you ask people to turn
themselves in. So I decided it would be smart to
keep quiet and let this all blow over.
81 82
11. (Page 214) ‘That’s been the whole problem this year. There’s been a lot of change all of a sudden.’ Do the children
think change is a good thing or a bad thing? Should some things always stay the same? Why do they think we resist
change? Ask the children to think of an event in their lives that had a large impact (e.g. moving house, starting a new
school, making a new friend). How did that change make them feel? Was the change for the best?
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In-depth discussion points
1. (Pages 13-16) Greg decides to post pictures of himself having fun online. Do the children ever post pictures of
themselves online? What are the dangers of posting pictures and comments online? Explain that there are often
age limits that prevent children from accessing certain websites. Discuss why that might be the case. Should parents
allow their children to post things online or access certain websites (e.g. Facebook) before they are old enough?
Rodrick is finding it difficult to get a job due to his online pictures. Should employers judge potential employees
based on their pictures?
Tonight I was
a wild New Yea
busted by Mom.
I don’t want people thinking MY life is lame,
Still, it kind of irks me that Rowley is having more so I decided to take some pictures to show how
fun than I am. In fact, it seems like EVERYONE great things are going for me.
is having more fun than me these days.
All you really need is a digital camera and a
There are some kids in my grade who post their photo-editing program and you can make it look
pictures online. like you’re having a total blast.
13 14
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In-depth discussion points
’re all having a Oh well. Mom won’t let me post photos on the
computer anyway, because of “privacy” and all
that. Or maybe it’s because she learned her lesson
after letting my older brother, Rodrick, post
HIS pictures.
15 16
2. ( Page 129) Split the class into groups and explain that they are going to plan their own ‘Lock-In’ event to raise
money for a charity. Ask them to discuss which charity they would choose to donate to and why, encouraging them
to research their charity online and explain the charity’s work to the rest of the class.
3. ( Page 181) Greg was annoyed that he couldn’t go to Jordan’s party and told Rowley that he couldn’t go either as it
wouldn’t be fair. Rowley explained he was ‘practically a grown-up’ and could make his own decisions. At what age do
the children think people should be allowed to make their own decisions? Should you always make them on your
own? What decisions do they think should be made with the advice of someone else?
4. (Page 182) Greg got a lecture from his Uncle Joe about planning for his future. Have the children thought about
their futures (e.g. college, jobs, where they will live)? Why (or why not)? At what age do they think you should start
to think about your future? How should you plan for your future and what should you think about in that plan?
Work with the class to think about different career ideas and create different plans for those types of futures.
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Main project
Create a media campaign
for a new product
Objective:
As a group create and present a media campaign using a variety of advertising methods, e.g. radio, television, posters,
online, etc.
Curriculum areas:
Literacy, expressive arts, ICT.
Starting point:
Read pages 22-24 and discuss how the Peachy Breeze Ice Cream advertisement opportunity caught Greg’s attention.
What did Greg do to prepare for the job and make himself appealing? What obstacles did he face? What could we
learn from this?
Lastyear
Last yearRowley’s
Rowley’smommombought
boughthimhimsneakers
sneakerswith
with The Peachy Breeze Kid used to be kind of cute, but
laces,and
laces, andIIcan’t
can’teven
eventell
tellyou
youhow
howmany
manytimes
timesII over the years he’s gotten a little seedy-looking.
hadtotobail
had bailhim
himout.
out.
??
Itwas
It wasfor
forPeachy
PeachyBreeze
BreezeIce
IceCream,
Cream,and
and And they wouldn’t have to worry about me
apparentlythey’re
apparently they’relooking
lookingfor
fora anew
newspokesperson.
spokesperson. getting too old for the part, because I’d take
whatever I needed to take to stop growing.
2222 2323 24
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Main project
Create a media campaign
for a new product
Main Activities
1. U
sing Worksheet 1, children should brainstorm ideas to create an advert suitable to a specific media audience.
Some starting ideas are:
• Decide on their product
• Unique selling points (USPs) of their product
• Agree on their demographic (target audience/buyers)
• Decide on their slogan
2. Allocate specific jobs within the groups (use Worksheet 2 to make a note of these). For example, there should
be a marketing manager whose job will be to ensure that everyone meets the deadlines the group sets. Explain to
the groups that they should have regular meetings with the marketing manager to ensure they all meet the
set deadlines.
3. Re-examine the Peachy Breeze advert in the book. Encourage the children to think about other media that might
have been suitable for advertising that product (e.g. posters, leaflets, websites).
4. Now the children should create an advert suitable for their media stream. Explain that they need to consider
things like how to make their advert attractive, what makes a good spokesperson, what to include in the advert etc.
Suggest different publishing programmes they could use in developing their ideas.
5. All good media campaigns need a catchy, interesting and vibrant advert. Discuss how to create an advert to meet
such criteria. How do advertisers try to differentiate their products from each other? What tricks do advertisers
use to entice people in to purchasing their products? Display examples of different media campaigns. Encourage
the children discuss the features of different adverts and what elements made the adverts more appealing to
the children. Discuss the persuasive tactics of advertisers. What are the possible negative aspects of media
advertising? For example, showing toys adverts at Christmas time and how the target audience might feel under
pressure from these. Use Worksheet 3 to keep notes about these discussions.
6. Lights, camera, action! The groups should be given the opportunity to film, record and publish their adverts and
present them to their classmates.
7. The other groups could pretend to be from the company that requested the media campaign. They could offer
constructive criticism and praise of the adverts presented.
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Other Project Ideas
1. (Page 39) Gammie still likes to hand-write letters. Encourage the children to write a letter to a friend or family
member, asking the recipient to hand-write a reply to them.
Tuesday
I found out that Uncle Gary’s wedding is gonna
be in November, and the reception will be at my
great grandmother Gammie’s house, like last time.
39
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Other Project Ideas
2. ( Pages 69-71) Do the children like Greg’s idea for remembering things? Do they use a particular method for learning
or remembering things? Encourage the class to compare and discuss the best ideas.
I just throw one of my pillows across the room. Then I remember, “Oh yeah, I have to bring a
permission slip to school.” See what I mean? It’s
totally foolproof.
If I DID forget, it wasn’t my fault. I actually And if Dad did something to mess up my system,
have a really GREAT system for remembering Then, when I wake up in the morning and go to he’s only got himself to blame.
things. walk out the door, I see the pillow and think,
“Hey, what’s this pillow doing here?”
You know how some people leave notes for
themselves when they need to remember
something? Well, I think that’s a lot of work,
and it’s a waste of paper, too.
69 70
70 71
71
3. ( Page 115-116) Ask the class to work together to create a ‘Taking Care of Me’ manual, inspired by what happens in
The Ugly Truth. This could be an A to Z, including information on what foods they like to eat, what times they have
to go to football/netball, what TV they are allowed to watch, etc.
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Other Project Ideas
4. (Page 137) The class could play their own version of Mrs Carr’s name game. What nicknames could they come up
with for themselves and their friends?
137
5. ( Page 206) The pupils could work in pairs to write their own ‘Best Friend’ speech, like in the book. They could write
about some things they have done together, what activities they do together, what sports their friends are good at
and what they think they will be when they grow up.
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MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
1.
Advert Brainstorm
Type of USPs
Product
Demographic Slogan
Ideas
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MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
2.
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MAIN
PROJE
W
CT
ORKSH
EET
3.
Our Advert Ideas
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