Resource 4 Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Title	Author /Illustrator
Diary of a Wimpy Kid	Jeff Kinney
Publisher	Date of publication
Mullet Books, New York	2007
Overview of text: This is a chapter book with cartoon depictions of the main character Greg Heffley and his school friends. It is a day to day recount of events that happen in Gregs life. Children can relate to his character, as he is funny and depicts actual thoughts/feelings of children from this age group.  The book also details the friendships held between a groups of boys in middle school.
Language features The language used in this text is generally simple, as it is reiterating the thoughts and feelings that Greg has. However there is some extended vocabulary in the text and it introduces readers in how to write a diary. The pictures depict the text and are comical, so the reader can have a laugh at Greg’s expense. There is the opportunity to teach about recounts, informal language and to focus on grammar and punctuation.
Other textual features (e.g. format, illustrations) As stated there are comic style illustrations used to depict the story. The writing is intended to be identified as a young students writing, as it is well spaced and not always on the lines etc. There are a lot of illustrations used, which are required to be read so that the reader can gather more information about the character. If the cartoon illustrations were not read, some of the essential information could be missed.
Audience	Genre
Boys and girls, grade 4 and up. This is often used as a unit of work for year 4, 5 or 6	Fiction - novel

Title of text Diary of a Wimpy Kid
Before reading activities	Justification*
1.Look at the front cover and predict what the text will contain 2.Look through the book and quickly observe the cartoon illustrations 3.Identify what type of book is it? Fiction/Non Fiction 4.Make reference and observations that this is not a traditional fiction story due to the different set out. 5.Observe the daily thoughts and make comparisons to a traditional story- how is this different? 6.Read the blurb at the back of the book 7.Examine the outline of the chapters in the story 8.Ask who keeps a diary and what is the purpose of keeping one?	1.CB1  use and integrate semantic, grammatical and phonological/graphological cues 2.Cb 6-use and integrate knowledge about images 3.TP 5-relate the text to their personal and cultural experiences and knowledge, including their experiences with other texts 4.TP 5-relate the text to their personal and cultural experiences and knowledge, including their experiences with other texts 5.TU 1-know about the different social and cultural functions that texts perform 6.TA 9-understand how a text's structure and features contribute to the way the text portrays ideas or issues 7.TA 9-understand how a text's structure and features contribute to the way the text portrays ideas or issues 8.TU 1-know about the different social and cultural functions that texts perform
During reading activities	Justification*
1.Make observations and reference to the language used (informal as opposed to formal), words such as gonna etc 2.Make a list of the characters as they appear in the story- identify who the main character is-how do we know 3.Identify with the illustrations and discuss how they add meaning to the text. 4.Make note as to the structure of the text (diary writing as opposed to a traditional story)	1. TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 2.TU - use texts for a range of purposes 3.TP -understand how layers of meaning are constructed in a text 4.TU -understand that these functions influence the way texts are structured
After reading activities	Justification*
1.Make a timeline of events/characters as they appear in the story 2.Examine some of the illustrations and discuss their meaning in relation to the text 3.Discuss the meaning of the text – who is the audience for this? 4.As a group, summarize what happens in each chapter and write the students responses on a piece of chart paper. (To make this less time consuming summarize the chapters in groups). Divide the students into groups and each group will be responsible for summarizing only 3 chapters. They will then need to orally present their findings to the other groups 5.Draw a story map of the chapter summaries and present to the rest of the class 6.Students could write their own fictitious diary entry and illustration 7.In groups students will create their own interactive story and record same, however they will choose an alternative character to be portrayed as the main character 8.Claymation From the word bank select words that define the characters 9. Word Bank Respectful, Co-operative, Responsible, Team Player, Honest, Kind, Caring, Empathetic, Honourable, Fair, Persistent, Courageous and Optimistic Disrespectful, Rebellious, Irresponsible, Unreliable, Dishonest, Cruel, Unfriendly, Hateful, Conceited, Dishonourable, Unfair, Lazy, and Pessimistic. Characters: Greg Heffley, Frank Heffley, Rowley Jefferson, Rodrick Heffley, Fregley 10.Compare and contrast positive and negative character traits (discuss meanings) Additional activities: watch the movie and compare it to the book	1.TP - use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 2.TP -be able to understand how illustrations, diagrams, graphs and other pictorial features present meaning in the text 3.TA -. talk about an author's purpose in constructing a text 4.TP -participate in unpacking the literal and inferential meanings of the text TA -explain why people might interpret texts differently TA - compare texts on the same topic from different viewpoints 5.TA - present an alternative position to the one taken in a text 6.TP -be able to understand how illustrations, diagrams, graphs and other pictorial features present meaning in the text 7.TP -use their knowledge of word meanings and common English expressions to construct meaning with the text 8.TU -interact with others around a text 9.TP-participate in unpacking the literal and inferential meanings of the text 10.TA- talk about their agreement or disagreement with the ideas presented in a text
Questions from Bloom’s (revised) Taxonomy Remembering Understanding Applying Analysing Evaluating Creating Remembering Make a list of the characters in the book Make a list of the main events Understanding Make a cartoon strip showing the sequence of events Write a summary report on three chapters Distinguish between good character traits and bad character traits Compare Grey Heffley and his brother Applying What factors would you change if the main character was not Greg Heffley? Can you construct an alternative dialogue for a particular point in the book? Analysing How is Greg similar to other characters portrayed in books? Analyse a particular point of the book and explain what could have happened as an alternative? Evaluating Journalling- write your own fictious diary entry and illustration Make judgements about which character is the best? What will this be based on- design a set of criteria for judgement Creating Create an interactive story book, but the main character must be different to the one portrayed in the book (one chapter only) How will this change the story line? Draw illustrations to match your new story book