Discerning Quality in Media (4:19)

Are kids capable of understanding the beautiful and the complex? Perhaps we should give them more credit than we do. Are they able to discern quality in media? How can we help them sift and sort? Illya Kowalchuk, Director of Education of the Pop Culture Classroom, talks to Rachel on today’s Worlds Awaiting about how he used video game design and comics in his Middle School classes to generate interest in learning other subjects. Kowalchuk also shares how he feels adults can help children become discerning media critics. Illya Kowalchuk hails from Long Island where as a child he avoided schoolwork by playing outside, reading comics, and mastering video games. Buckling down for college he later earned a BA in History, a K-6 Teaching Certification, and a Masters of Education. His teaching career was spent at Horizons K-8 School in Boulder, Colorado. Bringing his experience with pop culture together with his expertise as an educator, he co-founded Pop Culture Classroom and the Denver Comic Con.

Microsaurs (15:31)

Next, Rachel chats with children’s book author Dustin Hansen about a series that he wrote and illustrated titled, Microsaurs. The idea for the book was fueled by his passion as a Dinosaur nerd. The premise, as he’ll explain, came to him during an unexpected stay in the hospital. What if dinosaurs didn’t become extinct, but just got smaller? Think Honey, I Shrunk the Kids meets Jurassic Park!

Book Review (25:59)

Now, we finish up with Margaret Neville, Book Buyer at the King’s English Bookshop in SLC, who reviews I Dissent: Ruth Bader Ginsburg Makes Her Mark by Debbie Levy.