Activities in What’s Up
• Contest: Dare to Try – page 25
• Cool It Down: Let’s Play – page 23
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
ASEAN family is now complete: Timor-Leste is eleventh member (page 1 & 28)
We introduce this small, fairly new neighbour. Despite lacking resources, its government is determined to give education high priority in its national budget. So does Singapore, as we will likely see when the 2026 budget is released here. “Singapore’s money plan” (page 6) explains why the national budget is important for all of us. Meanwhile, caring “Singaporeans send aid to Gaza” (page 11) and volunteer to help war victims there even as “Palestinians are trying to rebuild in Gaza” (page 10).
Free-For-All Debate – English & CCE, Level 3 DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To develop oracy skills. A non-threatening debate format where all students can participate. The motion: “That it is better to help people in your own country than in other places”. 🔶
Spending Smart: My Weekly Choices – For Social Studies & CCE, Level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To experience personal budgeting. In pairs, students work on a given scenario where each gets an allowance of $15 for a week. They are given various categories to spend on. There is also an added hypothetical emergency such as losing a pencil case that needs to be replaced. They then re-adjust their budget and share their rationale. 🔶
World Cup 2026 – The big party: More teams mean more magic (page 26)
Our sports columnist conveys some of the mounting excitement about World Cup 2026 and explains the value of more newcomers. “Football builds community in Curaçao and Cape Verde” (page 27) is about the community building being done by these two newly admitted countries. As excited with the 2026 global music scene, “Fans look forward to BTS’s comeback” (page 18). And, in a more spiritual league, “Italian teenager is Catholic Church’s first millennial saint” is about the heart-warming story of Saint Carlo Acutis (page 17).
Compare & Contrast: Curacao & Cape Verde — For Social Studies & English, Level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice extracting relevant information for comparison. Every group lists points from the story about each country and displays it in a Venn diagram. They then share with the class these two countries’ similarities and differences. ⭐
BTS Crossword (online) — For English, Level 1
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply in the BTS story. Puzzle of 25 words with easy clues. ⭐
How fictional stories help us connect with early humans (page 20-21)
A fascinating read about archaeologist Emily Jones’s experience with fictional stories helping to make sense of real artefacts and fossils. More on fossils, “Face to face with dinosaurs” (page 19) gives a glimpse into Singapore Science Centre’s awesome dinosaur exhibition. On a lighter note, discover what happens when “Tee & Boba” (page 28) find what they presume is a bird’s egg. More about fantasy, “How Elphaba the Wicked Witch got her own movies” (page 24-25) draws on familiar stories to explain how successful spinoffs work.
From Fossils to Fables — For Science & Social Studies, Level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To explore story creation using facts, informed speculation, and pure imagination. Each group selects one artefact from the given scene and lists two facts they know about such an object in that era, and three informed guesses. They add imagined details. The group then gives a three-minute presentation telling a story about its artefact. Followed by a couple of reflection questions.
Hatching Plans — For English & CCE, Level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To enjoy exploring symbolism by likening new-year plans to caring for an egg till it hatches. Stemming from Tee & Boba’s experience of an egg, the student responds to reflection prompts about plans made for 2025 and why some hatched while others did not. The student then identifies one goal for 2026, and the plan that would increase its likelihood of being actualised. 🔶
How one family is coping with climate change (page 8-9) 🔶
One family’s experience illustrates coping with climate change. “Renewable energy has overtaken coal” (page 7) reports efforts to move towards cleaner, sustainable energy sources. Thankfully, despite global warming, winter sports are thriving with “Speed and agility on snow and ice” (page 21). “Rattlesnakes!” (page 14-15) is a photo essay about this climate-change survivor that helps to keep nature balanced.
Synthesis and Transformation – For English, Level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practice creating complex sentences. Based on the story of a family coping with climate change, students rewrite extracted sentences using various sentence structures. ⭐
Quotable Quotes – For Social Studies & CCE, Level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To gain insights by reflecting on what others say. Four quotes with questions to stimulate thinking about life.
Modern pyramids in the United States (page 16)
First in our new “Special Shapes” series, a fascinating show and tell about contemporary pyramid-shaped buildings. In contrast, “Exploring nature in a hotel room on wheels” (page 22) takes you into a Singaporean solo traveller’s tiny campervan.
Create a Puzzle: Impossible Triangles – For Math & Art. Level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To enjoy creating a puzzle with impossible triangles. Following video instructions, students learn how to draw impossible triangles. They then create a scene of modern pyramid-shaped buildings and embed three impossible triangles in their scene. The puzzle is ready! Classmates try to spot the impossible triangles in every puzzle.
Life-changing Journeys – For English & Social Studies. Level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To better appreciate local adventurers. Based on the story, students (1) complete a table that sums up Ally Chua’s campervan journey in terms of Expectations vs Reality (2) watch a CNA video about two other Singaporeans travelling unconventionally and (3) compare and contrast both journeys with evidence from the article and video. Followed by reflection questions on what both stories taught them about leaving comfort zones. 🔶
The unsolved mystery of the missing plane (page 12-13)
The search for Flight MH370 is being revived but this time by using numerous drones. Meanwhile, over land, “Using drones to hunt animals” (page 9) has created controversy. Bio-medical technology can also create issues as seen in “False information about vaccines put people in danger” (page 13) which is about the US budget cuts for vaccine research. When people are in distress, as in each of these stories, the resulting frustration may evoke anger. “Angry? Let words work for you” offers healthy ways to respond (page 23).
JAM speeches – English & Science, Level 3 DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To experience just-a-minute speeches as a mode of effective communication. Extending from the “Cool It Down” article, each student picks a topic about anger and delivers a speech that lasts just a minute (JAM). Provided: menu of topics.🔶
Vocab Builder – English, Level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen vocabulary and syntax. Students (i) examine the use of given phrases in the missing-plane story, and (ii) use the phrases to construct their own sentences.
⭐ 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.
🔶 Activities suitable for Total Defence Day (15 Feb).
