Not all adults know the name of Jeff Kinney; but if you were to ask middle school and elementary aged boys – they would tell you who Mr. Kinney is. The author of The Diary of a Wimpy Kid books has recently released the fourth installment of the series.
As an educator, I am glad for these series of books that are geared towards boys, and younger aged boys too. To me, it seems that boys, more than girls, have a hard time getting into reading or finding books of some depth that really relate to them. Yes, I will always be grateful to Captain Underpants; but I like to give my students something more — something in between Captain Underpants and Harry Potter. I feel that Diary of a Wimpy Kid fits there. There are two additional reasons I encourage my students to read the series.
One, I like the comic strips added into it. It tricks some students into thinking that a comic strip isn’t real reading. When in reality, any reading, is well — reading. And two, I like how it is set up for journaling. When I taught in the classroom I had my students journal every day for at least fifteen minutes. Journaling is a great activity for anyone, but especially students who are in the beginning stages of writing and creating longer written works. Once this series came to my attention, I made references to it. I would also show my students how writing in a journal is different for everyone, and that NO it didn’t have to be called a diary.
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If you haven’t gotten to know this series, I recommend that you do. Maybe give book one to a child you know during their December break from school.
www.theweek.com/article/index/101895/Author_of_the_week_Jeff_Kinney
www.funbrain.com/journal/Journal.html?ThisJournalDay=1&ThisPage=1
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