Engineer Jonathan Rossiter is inspired by nature to create robots to solve environmental problems – Picture by TED.com
Dear teachers,
Child development research tells us that having hope can make a substantial difference in one’s health and quality of life. Surely knowing this means we must help children to figure out how to be hope-filled regardless of circumstances. One strategy would be to tell stories that illustrate the power of hope. While fairy tales and fables pave the way, they are not enough when students enter the upper primary years. At that stage, kids need true accounts as well – individuals’ personal victories as well as whole societies’ triumphs. We factor this into our equation for each What’s Up issue’s story mix; that is why What’s Up always has more good news than bad. And, if a story has no silver lining visible just yet, then its accompanying IDEAS activities might challenge our readers to propose solutions or imagine best-case scenarios. We’d like to see these as stepping stones to indomitable hopefulness. Do try them out and let us know how they work in your classrooms.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
Mary George
For the What’s Up team
This month’s IDEAS activities
Famine looms over Yemen (page 6)
Because of war, Yemen is on the verge of a famine that could affect millions of children. Side bars: “Other countries in the grip of famine” and “Yemen’s Singapore ties”.
PEACE Acrostic – English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To express, through poetry, feelings and thoughts triggered by visual scenes. Steps for writing an acrostic inspired by the images in this story.
Hopes for Our World – CCE & Social Studies, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To nurture perspective-taking and empathy. On the given world map, students complete Hope Bubbles by filling in their wishes for the people in the areas pointed to.
Tunnel for ships (page 10)
The Norwegian government is going to build a tunnel through the base of the Stad peninsula, a mountainous region in western Norway. We explain the construction plan, a large part of which will be using a cofferdam.
Calculated Design – For Mathematics, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To develop mathematical thinking and problem solving skills. Five sums requiring scale drawing, and calculation of average, ratio, volume, and speed.*
Individual exercise. To build vocabulary, and to use words appropriately. Puzzle of 15 hidden words, followed by sentence construction.*
Lords of the air (page 12)
A photo essay with a sampler of spectacular bird pictures that are entries to the 2017 Sony World Photography Awards contest. Captions give fascinating facts.
Groupwork. To demonstrate care and concern for migratory birds. The groups gather information and discuss about migratory birds. Next, they make posters to publicise World Migratory Bird Day (10 May).
Birdwatching – For Science, Art & CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To experience bird watching as a nature conservation-related hobby. Guidelines for organising birdwatching stints at nearby parks and nature reserves, with a personal birdwatcher’s logbook.
The heroes that history almost forgot (page 14)
About three inspiring African American women – Dorothy Vaughan, Katherine Johnson and Mary Jackson – who were mathematicians at the National Air and Space Administration (NASA) in the 1950s, 60s and 70s.
Commemorative Stamps – For CCE & Art level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To present opinions confidently, and use art to celebrate role models of resilience. A discussion of the challenges and achievements of the three African American women at NASA followed by designing commemorative stamps to honour each.
WW2 Essay Contest: Precious Conversation – For English & Social Studies, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To process and present data collected through in-depth conversations about a historically significant period in Singapore. In preparation for entering the contest (page 23).
eSports is here to stay (page 22)
This article examines the global phenomenon that is eSports and asks why this new “sport” has become so popular.
Individual exercise. To recognise how words are used, and to apply syntax. After examining the given phrases in the story, students construct original sentences using them.
Venn Diversity – For English & Physical Education, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To process meaning from text, and to present compare-contrast relationships graphically. Steps for using a Venn diagram to show commonalities and differences between conventional sports and eSports.
* Answers to asterisked activities will be emailed to teachers on the IDEAS mailing list. To join the mailing list, please email your name, designation and school to ideas@whatsup.sg, or fill the form on the front page of this website.
At What’s Up, we do most of the work, writing stories for students to read every month. But, we know that many of our readers also enjoy writing or want to have their say. Encourage your students to write us a letter. Ask them to visit share.whatsup.sg.
VIDEOS AND OTHER EXTRAS
Our supplementary site digital.whatsup.sg contains videos, puzzles and other extras associated with the articles in our newspaper. Use them in class or ask your students to explore the site on their own.
OUR PHILOSOPHY & VALUES
We believe values should—and do—count when schools choose resources for their students. Values-driven journalism is at the core of our mission. Find out more by exploring the ABOUT WHAT'S UP link.
