This year, FLOC is again offering elective workshop units to our Middle School Scholars Program. These electives are designed to introduce students to a variety of topics in new ways. Zine Making 101 is offered as a fun and interactive way to introduce students to writing and publishing. Developing excellent writing skills is very important but can be intimidating for many students when presented in the traditional classroom manner. In a workshop environment, students are able to research topics that interest them and craft a zine based on their interests.
So what is a zine? The term ‘zine’ is shortened version of the word magazine. Zines are usually short self-published collection of texts and images. Although print is the most common format in the zine world, online zines have become increasingly popular. In our zine workshop, students are exploring the world of zines and will be publishing their own online zines. Students in the workshop have had the opportunity to not only write the text but also produce images as part of their content. So far, they have focused on music, animal rights activism and vidogaming. With a little direction from staff, students have begun to discover the ways in which they can further explore their interests through writing.
Students have not only demonstrated a strong interest in this genre of publishing but have also committed themselves to producing the best possible work possible. They research, draft, review and edit each piece of text and have even begun to create themes for each of their projects. The zines will be completed and published in January and students are excited to be able to share their work with the rest of the FLOC community and the world.
(Shakia Asamoah is the FLOC Scholars Fellow working with grades 7 and 10.)
