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Diary of a Wimpy Kid is not a movie; it’s a survival guide.It’s the self-help book and film for children who are about to leave Primary school and start ‘big’ school.

This is where you come in.

We are looking for our own wimpy – sorry, I mean cool kids to blog about their experiences in the last year of Primary school and the first year of Secondary school. The best bloggers will win the chance to have their words entered into the ‘Wimpy Kid Survival Guide’, which will be published and sent to UK schools at the end of the summer term.

SO…if you are 11 or 12 years old and you have a burning desire to share with us the trials and tribulations of SATs, school plays and the swings and roundabouts of the playground, please start blogging.

The 100 best blogging schools (!) will receive a Wimpy Kid goodie bag full of DVDs badges, stickers and other fun stuff to hand out to the children who participate.

Your guide to writing the perfect Wimpy Kid blog can be found in this booklet.

Introduction

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The original Wimpy Kid, Greg Heffley started writing a journal (he refuses to call it a diary, as diaries are uncool), when his mum bought him one to coincide with him starting Middle School (the American equivalent of Secondary school).

He writes about all kinds of stuff in his journal: • how he tries to be popular at school• the tricks his big brother Rodrick plays on him• the disastrous consequences of wrestling• avoiding the school geeks• auditioning for the school play• the scariness of girls, especially Patty Farrell

… to name but a few.

We would like you to use Diary of a Wimpy Kid to inspire you to keep your own online journal. If you are coming to the end of Primary school, then you might want to write about what your feelings are about next September and your new school. If you are already at Secondary school then you might want to share your experiences of the first few weeks or first term at your new school.

The idea is that your experiences and advice will help children who will be going through the same things next year. If your comments and suggestions are funny and original, they will be included in the Wimpy Kid School Survival Guide that will be put online and sent to schools in the UK.

Over the next few pages, we’ll give you some ideas of what you might like to include in your journal.

Writing a diary Keeping a journal

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To help you put fingers to keyboard in order to compile your blog, here are some suggestions of what you could write about.

Primary Schools• Dealing with test stress• What to do with your old school books• The leavers’ assembly • Worries about starting a new school• How to pull off being the oldest, and coolest in the school• Last day rituals• The leavers’ disco – cool moves and slow dances• What you REALLY need to know about surviving Year 6

Secondary Schools• How to handle your first day at big school• Adjusting your uniform to be ‘cool’• Locker etiquette• Developing a catchphrase• The ‘unwritten’ school rules (those that are made up by the pupils, not the teachers, for example: never wear your school shirt tucked into your trousers or skirt; carry your rucksack on one shoulder, not two)• Dealing with bullies• What to do when you’re lost at big school• Excuses to use for when you’re late for lessons• What to wear on non-uniform days• Choosing your route to school• How to be popular• Choosing who to sit next to at lunchtime• PE lesson pitfalls• How to be yourself and stand out from the crowd

The notes in this booklet will help you come up with more interesting and funny blog entries. There are also step-by-step instructions of how to create your blog and submit it to Film Education.

Tips for writing your blog

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The author of Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Jeff Kinney, decided to write about his experiences of growing up. He wanted to write about all of the funny bits, and leave out all of the heavy and boring bits. Hence, the Wimpy Kid was born. Jeff is now the fourth best-selling author in the UK, and a number one phenomenon in America.

To help you write your blog, keep notes of funny things that happen to you, or that you observe happening on a daily basis, like Jeff Kinney did.

For example: Has your teacher ever got so irate that s/he has uttered an inappropriate word at a naughty child?!

Or what about the inevitable post-lunch smells that arise in the classroom. Smells which your teacher has to pretend s/he hasn’t noticed, despite the fact that they could knock a skunk out at ten paces.

Think of three funny things that you observed in your life over the last week. Make notes about them and include them in your blog.

Jeff Kinney: The man behind the Wimpy Kid

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In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg has a love-hate relationship with his best friend Rowley Jefferson.

Rowley is loveable in a ‘special’ kind of way, and even though he’s a loyal friend, Greg doesn’t treat him that well.

Greg’s big focus in life is to increase his popularity ranking within the school, and sometimes he forgets to think of others in his quest for coolness.

Think about your friends. Do you ever fall out with them? Or is there never a cross word spoken? Include descriptions of your friends in your blogs. Be honest about your arguments, huffs and full-on fisticuffs.

Friends

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Everybody wants to be popular, and Wimpy Kid Greg is no exception. He truly believes that he is going to be famous one day, and he’ll do anything to increase his popularity and ‘cool’ status in the school.

Unfortunately, he fails to understand that the coolest kids are those who are chilled about life. They are the ones who are completely happy with themselves and who don’t even realise how cool they are.

Try to define what it is to be ‘cool at school’ in your blog. How should you behave to be regarded as a cool kid? Is it about your appearance, or your actions?

The Art of ‘cool’

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In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg categorises his fellow schoolchildren according to their position on the School Popularity Ranking.

The super-geek Fregley (who means well, but who is quite frankly, strange) is ranked at 200, whilst Patty Farrell (too cool for school sporty kid) is at number one.

Think about the different ‘types’ of children at your school and include some information in your blog. Can you categorise them into sporty types/arty types/the clever ones? In which group do you sit?

Fregley and Co

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Greg is hellbent on becoming popular and he develops his own kind of un-written code that he lives by.

For example:• He decides to join a club to increase his popularity• He volunteers to write the comic strip for the school paper• He tries to ‘bulk up’ in order to look muscley (by stuffing socks up his shirt sleeves!)• He even pretends to break his arm

His code doesn’t always work. But yours will.

Include advice on becoming popular in your blog. Think about the children in your school who are really popular. What is it about them that make them that way? BLOG IT!

The Popularity Game

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In Diary of a Wimpy Kid, Greg and Rowley decide to write a comic to be included in the school newspaper.

Rowley finds out that he has a natural talent for writing comics, and quickly comes up with a character and a catchphrase (‘Zoo-Wee Mama!’) that the other school kids love! Greg’s efforts are not so popular, however, and he’s forced to go back to the drawing board.

Come up with your own comic for your blog. If you can draw, scan in your pictures and include them in your work. Be sure to think up a pithy catchphrase that’ll have them falling off their seats…

Write a Comic!

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Step 1Find time each day to write about your funny experiences. Use the Film Education Wimpy Kid blogging template to help you.

Step 2Before you submit your blog:

• check it for spelling mistakes and typos• check it makes sense• make sure there’s nothing rude or nasty in there (we won’t be able to publish anything naughty)

Step 3Type your name, age, class, school name, town, and date of entry.

Step 4Get your teacher to email us your submission. Your contribution will be sent to Film Education’s own Wimpy Kid advocate, who will check through each entry and submit it to be published online.

Step 5Keep returning to filmeducation.org/wimpykid to see if your blog entry is up!Feel free to comment on other peoples’ entries.

Step 6Watch out for the Film Education Diary of a Wimpy Kid school pack, which will be arriving in schools in a few weeks time. Your blog may be published in there!

Step 7Tell all of your friends to do the same, and then…relax. Your work is done.

A step-by-step guide to writing and blogging your ‘Wimpy Kid Survival Guide’

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Bringing film to education across the UK

For over twenty years our charity has been bringing film to teachers and

schoolchildren. We produce BAFTA winning and curriculum-based resources, run

cutting-edge teacher training events and each year take 400,000

schoolchildren to the cinema free of charge in the world’s biggest festival

screening programme for young people, National Schools Film Week.

For more information visit:

www.filmeducation.org

Film Education, 91 Berwick Street, London W1F 0BPT. 020 7292 7330 F. 020 7287 6970 post@filmeducation.org

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