Wednesday, May 30, 2012

Dino-Mite!

Today the kids took the first steps to creating their own dinosaurs!  The first step to dino-creation was to learn how to use Pixlr.com.  This free website allows the kids to use tools very similar to the powerful Photoshop tools... for free!

After the kids had finished their dino-design work it was time to print and cut out the individual pieces; arms, legs, tails and teeth.

Will the kids designs turn out as well as our handsome argyle test model?  Tune in next Tuesday to find out!

Tuesday, May 29, 2012

First Day of Summer PNG 2012

Today we kicked PNG's Summer 2012 session off with a bang!  We started out making introductions and getting to know eachother with a game of PNG-O.  You play PNG-O a lot like Bingo, except you fill in the spaces based on asking the people in your class questions about themselves.

The winners received fabulous prizes ... like chocolate!

Getting to know you...



The second thing we did was take our own pictures and make some funny posters out of them using digital cameras and Microsoft Word.  Who knew you could do such cool things with MS Word?!  (Well, we did, but still...)



Can't wait to see what's in store for tomorrow.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Spring Mixcraft Music Session recap!

The music sessions were a big success. For two hours a week for four weeks the students utilized Mixcraft and its endless song constructing capabilities to create a song all their own using samples from Mixcraft's own extensive sample libary and its ability to allow the user to "play" many different kinds of instruments using the computer keyboard as a MIDI controller. Each student completed one to two songs of at least 3 to 5 minutes duration and included at least 3 instruments or voices. The amount of creativity displayed by each student was inspiring. Here's a look at the kids hard at work:




The fruits of their labor were definitely different from what anyone might have expected, especially myself. Audio links coming soon!

Friday, May 4, 2012

PNG Summer Session is Almost Here!

Elmwood Park Public Library is proud to announce another 8-week summer session of Project Next Generation!

PNG is a technology-for-kids class sponsored by the State Library of Illinois.

The new session will start May 29th and run Tuesdays and Wednesdays from 11am-1pm for 8 weeks.  It is totally free to participate, but there are a limited number of seats so make sure you sign up online!



This time around we'll be doing new activities like recording and sampling music as well as new twists on old favorites like making movies, mashing up photos in Photoshop and making our own comic books!

So make sure you don't miss out!  Follow this space or ask your librarian to stay up to date with the last about PNG @ EPPL!