The Olympic Torch Relay was an opportunity to showcase Brazil’s rich cultural and natural heritage. See our story on pages 12-13 of this month’s issue, and associated activities below. — Photo: Rio2016/Andre Mourao
Dear teachers,
The August issue of What’s Up reaches schools just before National Day. Over and above your school-wide SG51 celebrations, try using What’s Up and IDEAS to get your students to reflect on our nation’s core values. Our stories and activities can be pivotal for taking National Education discussions to another level. As you can see from the sampler below, no other newspaper for children offers such a range of stories with value-laden messages. Do let us know which worked best for your classes. Thank you.
Thank you.
Sincerely,
The What’s Up team
This month’s IDEAS activities
Lesson from Britain: Voters can fail badly (page 1)
What we can learn from Britain’s recent majority vote in favour of leaving the European Union. This brief article is supplemented by an insider account, “Britain’s sad decision to leave Europe” (page 6).
Debate: Brexit Copycats – For English & Social Studies, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To gain confidence in forming and articulating sound arguments. Steps for a free-for-all debating format where every students gets to participate.
North Pole voyage shows the Arctic under threat (pages 8-9)
Ben Edwards, a 14 year old schoolboy, will be the youngest person ever to sail around the world when he and his fellow sailors complete the Polar Ocean Challenge. For Ben, the Challenge is also a fund raiser for medical research on a condition he suffers from. Side bar “The warming Arctic” looks at the pros and cons of the widening Arctic Ocean Northeast Passage.
Amazing Kids – English & CCE, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD *
Groupwork. To reflect on leadership qualities of youth. A fill-in-the-blanks exercise about Ben is followed by group discussions about other amazing kids, and how each of us can make a difference as well.
Report card on Israel-Palestine conflict (page 11)
They must work harder to build peace, say the Middle East Quartet, a group of diplomates from the United Nations, European Union, Russia and USA. Side bar “Whose land is it?” provides context.
If We Were Peace Advisors – For CCE & Social Studies, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice macro operational thinking for conflict resolution. Steps for (i) comparing and contrasting the views of the two sides (ii) developing solutions to the Israel-Palestine conflict.
Five Steps to Grow Peace – For CCE & English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD *
Individual exercise. To become more familiar with peace-promoting language. A simple word puzzle that, when completed, spells out five steps towards greater peace and harmony.
An inspiring journey (pages 12-13)
A photo essay of the 2016 Olympic Torch Relay which highlights the rich heritage of host country Brazil. In Olympians to watch (page 22), our sports columnist identifies a few lesser-known athletes you should look out for at the Olympic Games
Sweet Sleep Comes Easily – For CCE & English, Level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To strengthen perspective taking and empathy. Students first reflect on a quote from artist Linda Yew’s letter, and then imagine what a good day would be like in each of the torch bearers’ work lives.
Shout Outs for Team Singapore – For CCE & Art, Level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To use creative expression for morale boosting. Students design and handprint T-shirts to show their support of our 2016 Rio Olympians.
Crippled elephant gets a new leg (page 16)
Mosha lost her leg because of human violence, but other humans have come to her rescue. Side bar: “Why are landmines now banned?” Video: more.whatsup.sg.
Posters: Watch Out For Landmines! – For CCE & Art, Level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To experience the use of posters as a creative medium for communication about danger. Steps for creating posters to warn children about landmines.
I Help Wildife – For Science & & CCE, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual Exercise. To be proactive in wildlife conservation. A menu of child-appropriate options for constructing a personalised action plan for wildlife conservation.
Humans in the wild (pages 18-19)
With two live actions films this year about boys who were raised by jungle animals – The Jungle Book and The Legend of Tarzan – we take a closer look at why we love stories about humans living in the animal world.
Word Find – English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD *
Individual exercise. To strengthen figure-ground perception for literacy. A puzzle of 15 words. Followed by an exercise in categorizing the words by nouns, verbs and adjectives.
Growing up with English (page 21)
In the eighth instalment of this series, Zubaida Ali recalls what led her to speak and write so well in English.
Vocab Builder – For English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen vocabulary. After examining how the given phrases are used in the What’s Up story, students construct new sentences with them.
* 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, or fill the form on the front page of this website.
Your feedback on this month’s offerings
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