Read All About It!: Teaching Kids to Love Reading By Teaming Up With Sentient Typerwriters#SaturdayMorningCartoons
Here’s how public television in Canada tried to get kids excited about reading: produce a show about three kids collaborating with a robot typewriter and a living computer who communicates partially through visualized language.
Actually, the first mystery was the disappearance of Chris’ uncle seven years earlier. In his will, an old vacant building called “the Coach House” is left to his nephew Chris for when he turns 21. In the meantime, he is allowed to use it for practical purposes only. So, he and his two friends Samantha and Lynne begin a newspaper called The Herbertville Chronicle in order to use the house. But in fact, the newspaper is mainly a front to explore the secrets uncovered when they make their initial visit to the house.
After a message of “help” is written in the dust on a window, the children enter the house and discover two of Uncle Derek’s inventions. The first is Otto, a robot typewriter that communicates through it’s own print-outs. The second is Theta, a talking computer that visualizes certain spoken words. Theta plays a recorded message from Uncle Derek to Chris in which he asks for help in uncovering a conspiracy and then mysteriously vanishes in thin air. The children start the newspaper to disguise their intentions to investigate in Uncle Derek’s footsteps and figure out who is behind the conspiracy.
Each Saturday Morning here at Adafruit is Saturday Morning Cartoons! Be sure to check our cartoon and animated posts both nostalgic and new that inspire makers of all ages! You’ll find how-tos for young makers, approaches to learning about science and engineering, and all sorts of comic strip and animated Saturday Morning fun! Be sure to check out our Adafruit products featuring comic book art while you’re at it!
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Each Saturday Morning here at Adafruit is Saturday Morning Cartoons! Be sure to check our cartoon and animated posts both nostalgic and new that inspire makers of all ages! You’ll find how-tos for young makers, approaches to learning about science and engineering, and all sorts of comic strip and animated Saturday Morning fun! Be sure to check out our Adafruit products featuring comic book art while you’re at it!