Zine Project, Part 2

All right, the gone but not forgotten part 2 of 3 section on how the zine project progressed with the 7th graders!

This class, we really focused on getting all of their submissions in, and getting them into the actual zine itself.  I brought in an electric typewriter, which they all really enjoyed playing with!  They had to use their class laptops, finish writing and printing their submissions, then they could help me assemble their pages and use the typewriter to type their names, titles, and whatever else they felt like trying out.  They LOVED the typewriter.

Really, what a zine is is a literary magazine.  However, if students view it as a lit mag, they find it less appealing and more "normal."  So, a lit mag is reframed as a "zine," something much more counterculture.  The fastest way to make it more counterculture is to simply use black cardstock to make the zine, giving it a much edgier look and a "punk rock" appeal.

After the class, I scanned all of the pages and uploaded them.  We were thinking about making a blog with the submissions, but I preferred the idea of translating the actual aesthetic of the handmade zine into an online version.

Simple, but it was a great experience for the kids!  Today, I had one of them tell me that she was going to start her own zine.