Nikki and her friends help in the library and read a lot. Throughout the Dork Diaries series, they refer to various trends in literature, film, and popular culture, like vampires, werewolves, and zombies. What is your favorite current trend? Least favorite? Why? Do you think the “thank you for the oatmeal” note Nikki’s mom leaves is sincere, or is she trying to let Nikki know that she is on to her deception but forgives her? Either way, Nikki is very relieved that she’s not in trouble. Have you had a close call where you thought you were busted but ended up being just fine? What happened?

Tales from a Not-So-Fabulous Life • Tales from a Not-So-Popular Party Girl • Tales from a Not-So-Talented Pop Star • Tales from a Not-So-Graceful Ice Princess • Tales from a Not-So-Smart Miss Know-It-All • Tales from a Not-So-Happy Heartbreaker • Tales From a Not-So-Glam TV Star • Tales From a Not-So-Happily Ever After • Tales from a Not-So-Dorky Drama Queen • Tales from a Not-So-Perfect Pet Sitter • Tales from a Not-So-Friendly Frenemy • Tales from a Not-So-Secret Crush Catastrophe • Tales from a Not-So-Happy Birthday • Tales from a Not-So-Best Friend Forever • Tales from a Not-So-Posh Paris Adventure Nikki asks her best friends for advice. Their classmates write Miss Know-It-All for advice. Who can you ask for advice? Do you ask different people in different situations, or do you have one go-to person for most any problem? Does anybody come to you for advice? Why or why not? Chloe goes Dumpster diving in search of Nikki’s diary. You’ve probably heard the saying that one man’s trash is another man’s treasure. If you cleaned out your old “junk,” unwanted gifts, and outgrown clothes to sell or donate, what kinds of things would you get rid of? What would you be delighted to spot at a garage sale or discarded at the side of the road? In the book, there is a list of positions on Nikki’s school newspaper available for new students. What role would you want on a school newspaper? Why? What role would you be least comfortable serving in, and why?Why do you think Nikki’s parents decide to deliberately create Family Sharing Time? Does your family do anything like this? Nikki suggests her family do an extreme sport, like bungee jumping, together. What are some activities that you think would be good for Family Sharing Time? Why? Fountas & Pinnell™ W These books have been officially leveled by using the F&P Text Level Gradient™ Leveling System Nikki imagines what she could do with a love potion...with unfortunate side effects. Meanwhile, Brianna tries to scare Nikki with her toy spider until it's revealed that a real spider is in Nikki's room.

Tired of Brianna waking her up in the middle of the night to help her go to the bathroom in fear of the tooth fairy being in there, Nikki decides to make her own fairy repellent so she can keep the tooth fairy away. She sprays Brianna's whole room. When their parents see this, Nikki says there was a really bad pest, assuming a bug, leaving them none the wiser. In Nikki’s own words, she was trying to “do it ALL” on Halloween, including paint faces at the ballet class Halloween party, attend the Halloween dance with Chloe and Zoey dressed as a bag of trash, and attend the Halloween dance as Brandon’s date, dressed as Shakespeare’s Juliet. Have you ever found yourself in a situation where you took on too much at one time? Were you successful? How would you do it differently if you had to do it over again? Why do you think Nikki writes, “Make sure you write in your diary every single day” even if you lose the original diary and have to write in a spare notebook? Why is keeping a diary important? Guide was written by Michele Gorman, author of Getting Graphic! Comics for Kids and Getting Graphic! Using Graphic Novels to Promote Literacy with Preteens and Teens. Nikki keeps Brandon’s secret, and she doesn’t even tell him that she knows. If you discovered a big secret about one of your friends, what would you do?Nikki admits that her major crush on Brandon has caused RCS (Roller Coaster Syndrome). What does this mean? Have you ever had this feeling when you are around someone you have a crush on? Does it impact your ability to talk to him or her?

Have you ever felt completely overwhelmed by the task ahead of you? What would it take for you to step up to a challenge that previously seemed impossible? What techniques can make a large task more manageable? Nikki discusses some of her fears in Dork Diaries 3. What was your biggest fear when you were little? What about now? Nikki is starting at a new private school. How does she learn about the culture of the school and figure out who is trustworthy? Have you ever had to start over at a new school? If yes, how did it feel? If no, how do you think you would act the first few days? Nikki’s mom always wanted to be a ballerina, so she signed up both her daughters for lessons, even though neither of them wanted to attend ballet classes. Have your parents ever forced you to do something you didn’t want to do? How did you respond?Nikki feels that her bedroom should be her own private space. At school, she, Chloe, and Zoey use the janitor’s closet for their meetings. Do you have your own bedroom or another special space that feels like it is all your own? If so, who makes up the rules for this special place? If you could have complete dominion over your space, what would be your top three rules? Throughout the Dork Diaries series, Nikki has given many different kinds of gifts to her friends and family, including budget-saving handmade items, last-minute convenience presents, cherished items that are hard to share, and gifts that might also benefit her—like a dinner gift certificate for two. How do you decide what presents to give your friends and family? What’s the best gift you’ve ever given? The worst? This discussion guide is designed to help your students engage with the text through discussion in small or large groups. The discussion questions can also be used as writing prompts for independent work. The nature of the questions themselves, as well as the variety of suggested response formats and opportunities for interaction with peers, will help students develop proficiency in many of the College and Career Readiness (CCR) anchor standards for Reading, Writing, Speaking and Listening, and Language.