Tuesday, April 19, 2011

Seventh Graders Learning Photoshop CS5



As Seventh Graders, we have been exploring the world of Marketing and Photoshopping Images in Digital Thinking Ι. We have looked at advertisements and websites that show how they make food look so delicious on TV, but not very good the store. We were completely blown away by the things they put in a basic meal. Ever thought about why on commercials with ice cream, the ice never melts or has any sign of it melting? Well we know why and it definitely doesn’t make your mouth water about wanting to eat ice cream. Here is the list of the ingredients: Shortening/Margarine, Powdered Sugar, Corn Syrup, Vanilla Beans Strawberry jam, cocoa and other colorings and flavorings. To add to that, you can put this type of ice cream in a plastic bag for months and it wouldn’t change its looks. Yuck! Moving away from that thought, let us explain our Photoshop projects.


 

The Projects we are working on are fun and challenging. The first project we had involved us cutting ourselves out of one picture and copying it onto another picture. They turned out pretty awesome. We took approximately six classes to complete this. We basically pasted ourselves into somewhere extraordinary that we wanted to go to or something we always longed to do. We tried to make it as real-looking as possible. For example, we put ourselves on a beautiful beach in Hawaii. It was really dreamy to pretend to be on a nice beach in the midst of the freezing cold winter. Some of our other classmates were placed on trampolines, walking down fashion runways, and even on the moon!
Now we are in the process of working on another Photoshop project. This one is being completed in pairs because it requires more work. We are using to Photoshop to create something archival from the pre-1980s. It’s slowly moving along, every pair working out all the study halls we have together to finish it as quickly as possible. Some partners have chosen to do old books, old music, etc. For example, Sakina’s partner and she are doing old animated cartoons and we are going to Photoshop all the prehistoric cartoons, like The Jetsons, and Popeye the Sailor, into a Color bar based on the year in which it was originally produced. We can’t wait to see how it all turns out!  


Text and top photos by Sakinah R. and Paige S. (Class of 2016)
Photoshop projects by the Seventh Grade Digital Thinking II students





What It's Like to be a Captain



This year I am proud to be one of the two team captains of the 2011 Lacrosse C Team. As a captain I have to take full control and responsibility of the team, while still being a friend and teammate. Part of being a captain means you have to go up in morning meeting to share when the next lacrosse game is and the score of the past ones. Also, I have to make snack lists and schedules for the games and days when we are going to dress up in fun colors and different themes. Last Friday we had everyone dress in animal print, and almost everyone did! Being a captain is hard work, but more than that, it is FUN!
To get ready for games, captains have to prepare the team and lead laps around the field, stretches, and shuttles (and the same goes for practices). While the team is warming up, we have to meet with the referees and the other team captains from the opposing team.  After we are all introduced we have to pick heads or tails when the coin is flipped, and if we win we choose which side our team defends first. No matter what, we have to follow the Middle School lacrosse rules, and set good examples for our team and school.
So far this season we have had three games out of nine. Our first game was against NDP (away) and unfortunately we lost 3-7. It was a really great game because we did not have our goalie! Our second game was against BethTiphila and it was also away, and, we won 9-7 and everyone did amazing. Our third game was on the hottest day of the spring so far, and we played home against Key school, but we lost 10-13. It was really close and we are all really proud of our team! We will have many more home games, so come cheer us on!!! The A, B, and C lacrosse game schedules can all be found on the Garrison Forest School website.
 -- Text and photos by Isabella Z. (Class of 2016)