Developing media-savvy teenagers is the goal of Big Noise, a new publication created by the nonprofit Media Foundation in Vancouver, Canada.
Originally planned as an insert for the foundation’s adult-oriented Adbusters Quarterly, this 24-page media-literacy comic book deconstructs the advertising, music videos, and television programs targeted specifically at teens.
Recent articles include an essay on the impact of Whittle Communications on public schools and a teacher’s examination of education as “media.’' Regular features will include alternative music reviews, noncommercial cartoons, and mock advertisements.
Subscriptions to the bimonthly newsletter are available for $8 from Big Noise, 1243 West 7th Ave., Vancouver, B.C., Canada VZ6H 1B7; (604) 736-9401.
Another recent addition to the burgeoning field of teen-media interpretation is a teacher’s guide for students in junior and senior high school called Creating Critical TV Viewers.
Written by the directors of the Family Television Research Center at Yale University, this teacher workbook breaks television down for study to its “basic elements,’' such as message, visual and aural ingredients, and edited sequences. The guide suggests strategies for properly identifying fact, opinion, and appeals to emotion in programs, and for interpreting a program’s intent. A 77-minute videotape illustrates some of the sections from the workbook.
Creating Critical TV Viewers is available for $15.95 plus shipping; the accompanying video costs $39.95 plus $4 shipping. To order, call (800) 228-4630.
Scientific American Books is the name of a publishing venture from W.W. Freeman & Company that aims to make science and mathematics more accessible to children.
The imprint comprises three new series of books on science-related subjects. Books in the “One Small Square’’ series will acquaint children ages 7 to 12 with “small square’’ patches of various ecosystems throughout the world.
“The Mysteries of Science’’ series will introduce students ages 9 to 14 to the detective work behind major scientific discoveries. The third series, for 8- to 12-year-olds, is called the “MATHNET Casebooks,’' and is based on episodes of the MATHNET sequence on “Square One TV,’' a Children’s Television Workshop program carried on PBS stations.
Six books with the Scientific American Books imprint are currently available in bookstores; the publishers hope to expand the list to include 35 titles annually.--S.K.G.
