Themes of Diary of a Wimpy Kid

Themes, symbols, and motifs come alive when you use a storyboard. The theme provides a moral to the story and is the central idea behind the text. Through analyzing themes, students can delve deeper into the text’s meaning and apply the moral to their own lives. In this activity, students will identify a theme of Diary of a Wimpy Kid and support it with evidence from the text.

Example Theme and Support from Text

Belonging

• “I’ve been trying to be a lot more careful about my image ever since I got to middle school. But having Rowley around is definitely not helping.”


• “…I realized getting elected Treasurer could TOTALLY change my situation at school.”


• “So here’s what I’m thinking: This school year has been kind of a bust, but if I can get voted as Class Favorite, I’ll go out on a high note.”

Additional themes are courage, loyalty, friendship, and family.

Student Instructions

Create a storyboard that identifies recurring themes in Diary of a Wimpy Kid. Illustrate instances of each theme and write a short description below each cell.

1. Click "Start Assignment".
2. Identify the theme(s) from Diary of a Wimpy Kid you wish to include and replace the "Theme 1" text.
3. Create an image for examples that represents this theme.
4. Write a description of each of the examples.