Diary of a Wimpy Kid by Jeff Kinney

The boy named Greg is telling us funny stories from his life - school, family life,
relationships, friendships, etc. The book deals with many issues such as bullying, parents
problems, problems in school, etc. And it could help children to take another perspective on
their life. The book contains many pictures which helps to understand the plot.
Children may know the book in Czech translation, therefore it should not be a problem for
them to follow the plot and characters.
I would recommend use this story and activities in class with a level of at least B1.
Pre-Reading Activities
1. Predictions (5 minutes)
A, Pupils are given 5 pictures taken from the story and they try to arrange them the way
they think the story goes.

B, When the pictures are arranged, pupils guess what relationships are between the
characters.
2. Matching and answering (5 minutes)
A, 5 strips of excerpt from the text are given to pupils and they try to match them with
pictures.

„Tonight Manny was going through the Christmas catalog, picking out all the stuff he
wants.“

„I told him that if he circled stuff that was too expensive, he was going to end up with
a bunch of clothes.“

„When Mom and Dad saw my wish list that year, they got in a big fight over it.“

„Dad wasn’t real happy when he saw what Uncle Charlie got me.“

„That’s how I ended up in the emergency room two weeks later.“

B, Then, pupils are asked to give answers to the question:

„Why do you think the boy is in the emergency room at the end?“
While-Reading Activities
The text contains many phrasal verbs which may not be fully understandable by the
pupils.
Therefore, the text is divided into following parts, and there is a multiple choice quiz
to help the pupils understand difficult words.

The whole reading should take approximately 15 minutes

1. Reading of the first part

After reading of the first part, the presentation with a multiple choice quiz should
be prepared on the screen, and pupils have to pick the correct answer:

„the only thing that tipped me off“

- „jediná věc, která mě upozornila“
- „jediná věc, ktreá mě potěšila“
- „jediná věc, která mě naštvala“

„Put his wish list up “

- Vyvěsil jeho zoznam přání
- Roztrhal jeho zoznam přání
- Nakreslil jeho zoznam přání
2. Reading of the second part

„picking out all the stuff“

- Vybírat každou věc
- Nakreslit každou věc
- Číst si každou věc
„I decided to step in“
- Rozhodl jsem se zaútočit
- Rozhodl jsem se zakročit
- Rozhodl jsem se to ignorovat
3. Reading of the third part

„end up with a bunch of clothes“

- Skončit s kupou oblečení
- Koupit kupu oblečení
- Nedostat kupu oblečení

„learn the hard way“

- Poučit se z vlastních chyb
- Poučit se z rady nekoho jinýho
- Nepoučit se vubec

4. Reading of the fourth part

„start my wish list over“
- Začít s seznamem přání znovu
- Nechat seznam přání tak
- Roztrhat muj sezam přání
5. Reading of the fifth part

„he’d hook me up“

- Že to zařídí
- Že mi nepomuže
- Že nic nedostanu

„pick up the first thing“

- Vzít první věc
- Ignorovat první věc
- Koupit první věc
6. Reading the sixth part

„shoe stuck up my nose“

- Bota uváznutá v nose
- Bota co mi trčela z nosu

7. Titles (5 minutes)
After reading the whole story, pupils are asked to give each „excerpt“ a different
title.
Post-reading activities
These activities should help the pupils revise the plot, better understand the plot and elaborate
on the story.

1. Retelling in groups (8 minutes)

Divide the class into 3 groups and give each group 2 excerpts of the text. First group
get excerpt 1,2; second group 3,4; third group 5,6. They will try to sum up the plot of
the given excerpt into 3 sentences.

2. Questions (10 minutes)

Ask who got the prediction of the „ending up in the emergency room“ right?
Ask who they think „Roderick“ is?
Ask if there is a name of the main character in the story, and if not, which name would
they give him? (His name is Greg)
Ask if they have ever gotten a present which they did not like?

3. Rewriting (10 minutes)

In several sentences rewrite the story if the protagonist was a girl.