This month’s IDEAS activities
Refugee children’s precious possessions (page 7)
When child refugees flee their homes, they hold on to little things that remind them of their old lives and their loved ones. Nine kids tell us about their precious keepsakes
Empathy Shoes — English & CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To develop empathy and practice oracy Each group selects one of the nine featured kids and presents what the keepsake means to the child. With PowerPoint slides.
Vocab Builder – English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen vocabulary and syntax. Students (i) examine the use of given phrases in the story, and (ii) use the phrases to construct their own sentences
World’s tallest statue (page 10)
The controversy surrounding India’s impressive new statue of founding father Sardar Patel. On page 11 is a fascinating explanation about “Making giant statues walk” in ancient times.
Free-for-all Debate — English & CCE, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To develop debating skills. A debate format where all students participate. Motion: That the benefits justify the high costs of building the Statue of Unity.
Word Find — For English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen figure-ground perceptual skills for reading. A puzzle of 15 hidden words, followed by sentence construction using the words.
Plucky schoolboy’s trek to Everest base camp (page 12–13)
An inspiring photo essay of nine-year-old Darrshan Raj’s trek with his father to the Everest base camp. He is probably one of the youngest to make it there.
What makes a good photo essay? – For Arts Education, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To discern quality in photo essays. Students work in groups to compare three photo essays and identify elements that either add or reduce impact.
Alike and Different — CCE & Math, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To appreciate diversity. The pair uses a three-way Venn diagram to show commonalities and differences with Darrshan Raj and each of them. Plus, two questions.
Rice-drying machine by youths improves rice yields (page 14)
A group of four Asian undergraduates has come up with a way to harness renewable energy to help rice farmers. This has helped farmers in Myanmar improve their padi yield by 40%.
Let’s Make Solar Ovens – For Science, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To explore the use of solar energy at home. Steps for building a solar oven using simple everyday materials.
Poster: Don’t Waste Food! – For English & Science, Level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To educate about food wastage. After gathering relevant information, students design attractive posters to teach their juniors about reducing food wastage.
You can decide to fight discrimination (page 15)
To be truly one united people, celebrating diversity is not enough. Even focusing on harmony alone will not do. We have to face and fight discrimination.
Diversity Crossword — For English, Level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply in this series of articles. Puzzle of over 25 words with easy clues.
My Anti-discrimination Plan — For CCE & English, Level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To develop personal goals that value Singapore’s socio-cultural diversity. A worksheet for guiding discussion on what each student commits to do and when.
Video Assistant Referee: the good and the bad (page 21)
A closer look at the pros and cons of the Video Assistant Referee (VAR) in football.
Pros and cons of VAR — for English, Level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practise reading comprehension and summary skills. Students extract from the article the key points in the argument for and against the VAR.
All in A Comic — For English & Art, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To hone perspective taking and creative communication. Worksheet for transforming any one anecdote in the article into an eight-part comic strip.
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.
