Contests
• A Kind Deed – What’s Up page 19
• Dear Dancer Justina – IDEAS activity
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
Remembering horrible histories helps people avoid war and violence (page 1 & 28)
Cambodian Memorial Sites are now one of UNESCO’s World Heritage Sites. We explain the peace-promoting value of such monuments to past atrocities. Despite such reminders, one more war has broken out — “The Iran war brings hardship to people everywhere” (page 6), as “Rising oil prices affects homes and businesses worldwide” (page 6). By a peace expert, “Why do leaders start wars?” is a brief article about the concept of “just wars” and the ideals of pacifists (page 7). Giving us a good reason to grow peace on earth is the centrefold, a mini poster with stunning photos of “Our Earth & Moon” (page 14-15) by the Artemis II astronauts.
What are “Just Wars”? – For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To better understand the concept of just wars. The student (1) identifies 10 statements as true or false based on the “Why do leaders start wars?” article (2) writes correction statements for those that are false. ⭐
Local War Memorials – For Social Studies & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To examine the peace-promoting qualities of war memorials. From a list of well-known local memorials, each group selects one, examines its features online, and presents a brief reflection on its potential peace-promoting qualities. Provided: guiding questions.
Barcelona’s breathtaking beauty (page 1)
Introduces the Sagrada Familia. “Barcelona honours an artistic genius and the amazing church he designed” (page 18-19) gives an update on the 100th-year death anniversary of its chief architect, Antoni Gaudi. Closer to home, more appreciation of architecture as we look at our airports, future and past — “Terminal 5 will be Changi Airport’s largest” (page 10) and “Before Changi, other airports put Singapore on the aviation world map” (page 11).
Survey: About Terminal 5 — For English & Science, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To experience conducting a survey. From a provided list, students survey the views of their families and friends to find out which category of facilities they would most like to see at T5 and why. Each group collates its findings and presents the data graphically.
A Singatopia — Gaudi-inspired! — For English & Art, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To explore designing Gothic-style architecture. Extending from the article about the Sagrada Familia in Barcelona. After watching a video, the students (1) complete a gap-fill on key Gothic features (2) create a Gaudi-inspired Singatopia, a local version of Zootopia, for a new animated film (3) share their blueprint with the class.
Where do they belong? (page 22-23)
Three articles. “Sliding and hopping between land and water” (page 22) is a lovely photo essay about why peppered moray eels, lesser tree frogs, and other creatures move back and forth between the two. “Some mammals cannot survive on land but get stranded there” (page 23) tells us about beach strandings, with side bar “Marine mammals and water”. “Why dolphins jump out of water” (page 24) sheds light on this seemingly playful behaviour. Then there is “Tee & Boba” (page 28) with the more-patient Boba able to spot various well-camouflaged creatures.
Short Story: Stranded on a Beach — For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To exercise fact-based fiction writing. The student (1) completes an organiser about marine animals’ risks of getting stranded on coastlines (2) writes and illustrates a short story about a marine mammal getting stuck on a beach (3) shares it with the class with reflections on the experience.
Fashion in Disguise — For Science & Art, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To express creativity inspired by nature. Extending from the Tee & Boba comics. Students (1) watch a video about wildlife adapting through camouflage (2) play a game of spotting camouflaged creatures in a second video (3) follow prompts to design a fashion outfit inspired by a favourite camouflaged creature.
“Robots can dance but humans have more fun” (Page 12)
Dancing robots took centre stage in China’s biggest gala in February. Our writer, who lives in China, reports on the reaction and explains why, as a dancer herself, she won’t let robots stop her from dancing (see side bar “My dancing journey”). Meanwhile, “London celebrates 40 years of trains carrying poems” (page 13) as the Poems on the Underground project continues to silently engage thousands of commuters. More on quality of life as “Young people are finding joy in needlework and pottery” (page 17), with its side bar “Analogue hobbies to pick up”. Be it for art or architecture, our “Special shapes” series continues, this time with “The pentagon: a five-sided wonder” (page 20).
Poetry on the Move – For Literature & Art, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To enjoy composing and displaying list poems. Extending from the Poems on the Underground story, the pair (1) responds to two given brief list poems to appreciate this form (2) follows guidelines to compose an original list poem using the template. The class displays their poems in a corridor at school and shares hopes for thus engaging fellow students.
Contest: Dear Dancer Justina – For English & CCE, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To enjoy letter writing to express thoughts. Steps for writing a letter to the writer of the “My dancing journey” in the robots-can-dance story. Students will win prizes for selected letters.
This overseas Singaporean gets his thrills on snowy hills (page 26)
About Faiz Basha, Singapore’s first alpine skier at the Winter Olympics, who keeps going despite challenges. More inspiring reads — an “Artist who paints walls to teach children wins global teacher prize” (page 8-9) and “There is a prize for students, too”. There are hidden winnings too, as explained in “How big brands win at the World Cup (page 27) when commercial brands target top teams and players to tempt fans.
Almost Gave Up, But Didn’t! – For English & CCE. level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To compose personal recounts with peer support. The pair (1) responds to questions about Faiz Basha’s experience (2) composes personal recounts of times when they almost gave up (3) reviews each other’s drafts using given prompts (4) finalises the recounts.
Power-of-Art Crossword (online) — For English & CCE, level 1
Individual exercise. To foster reading comprehension and increase vocabulary. Based on the “Artist who paints walls…” story, a twenty-word puzzle with easy clues. ⭐
Making it simpler to eat healthily (page 16)
Food-pyramids educate us about food, but do not tell the full story. More on health and well-being, find out why “Sleep should make you feel refreshed but sometimes you feel tired when you wake up” (page 21). Next, extending to the interpersonal, our “Cool it down” series focuses on “How to disagree” (page 25) without spoiling friendships.
Disagreeing Politely – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice rephrasing first responses into more gracious ones. Using the tips given in the “How to disagree” article, students revise the responses of five hypothetical verbal exchanges.
Design a Plate for ________ – For CCE & Science, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To explore individualising a food guide. Based on the food-guides article, students (1) respond to a couple of comprehension questions (2) select two profiles of individuals from the list (3) use the graphic organiser to design and present the two personalised food guides (4) present the guides to the class.
⭐ Answers to these 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.
