ACTIVITY IDEAS FOR THE FEBRUARY 2020 ISSUE OF WHAT’S UP
1. GETTING TO KNOW BILLIE EILISH (page 21)
A big winner at the Grammy Awards, this lovable teen superstar talks about how she beat the odds and rose to fame despite having Tourette’s Syndrome.
JAM for Billie! — English & Science, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To experience very brief speeches for effective communication. Each student presents a Just-A-Minute speech on one big takeaway from this article.
2. CONTROL THE VOLUME, SAY HEALTH EXPERTS (page 20)
An easy-to-grasp article on how listening to loud music for too long can cause permanent hearing loss. With tips from WHO for keeping our ears safe.
Protect Your Ears: An Infographic — For Art & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pair-work. To practise synthesising and re-interpreting information in a visual format. Students are to design an infographic about volume levels, with tips on protecting our ears.
3. WORKING WITH THE ORANG ASLI TO IMPROVE THEIR LIVES (page 16)
About Native, a social enterprise that that partners the Orang Asli to provide community-based tourism ventures. The story is also a good introduction to the Orang Asli’s current challenges.
Mindmap: My Social Enterprise — For English and CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To encourage the humanitarian imagination. Using a mindmap, students are to conceive a sustainable social enterprise that empowers its beneficiaries.
A Podcast Interview –– For English and CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To grow inquiry and conversational skills. Students are to craft questions to ask Daniel Teoh, imagine his answers, and record role playing the interview as if for a podcast.
4. THE 747 JUMBO TURNS 50 (page 14)
A salute to this Queen of the Skies and how it has changed the way people travel. Side bar “Cargo version” explains the popular use of 747 freighters thanks to online shopping.
Let’s Compare – For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To examine ways of making comparisons in writing. Students identify sentences in the article that make comparisons, underline key words, and construct new sentences. ⭐
Number Reveal – For Math, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To apply mathematical concepts and skills. Arithmetic problems involving standard form, significant figures, average rate, and percentage. ⭐
5. DISCOVERING SINGAPORE’S HERITAGE IN OLD TILES (page 12-13)
An ongoing book project by artist Jennifer Lim is surfacing astonishing multicultural design elements that inspired the beautiful Peranakan tiles at the Bukit Brown Cemetery.
Design Your Own Tiles – For Art & Social Studies, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To exercise creative expression. Guidelines for designing a locally-themed tile motif for a favourite local import of the student’s choice.
Crossword Puzzle – For English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply in the story and grow vocabulary. Puzzle of 34 words with easy clues. ⭐
6. FOOD DESERTS AND FOOD SWAMPS (page 10)
UNESCO describes the challenges of food deserts and food swamps. In “Finding food is easy but eating well is not” (page 11), a boy and his mother in Kazakhstan explain why eating healthily is hard to do. A third food-related story, “How many stars for this?” (page 19), takes stock of the Michelin-Guide phenomenon.
How Healthy is Your Snack? – For Math & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practice food-label literacy. Guiding questions that enable students to evaluate how healthy a pack of cookies is by examining its food label (given). ⭐
Junk Food – Why Call It That? – For CCE & Science, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To apply reasoning about the harmful effects of junk food. A gap fill exercise with helping words. ⭐
How to Eat Healthy – For CCE & Science, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To test knowledge about healthy diets. Discovery through a series of eight multiple-choice questions (MCQs). ⭐
Nutrition: Educate Your Neighbourhood — For English, & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Group work. To practise oral presentational skills and promote good nutrition. Students are to craft a presentation for a community event to raise awareness about healthy diets, and prudent meal planning.
⭐ 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.
