July 2020 issue

ACTIVITY IDEAS
for the July 2020 issue of What’s Up

BACK IN CHARGE, PAP SAYS THE COUNTRY WILL SURVIVE THE CRISIS (page 1)

Thanks to GE2020, there will be many new, young members in Parliament, showing that our political parties are thinking about the next generation. If they do their jobs well, our future is in good hands.

National Day Crossword – For English & CCE, level 1
Individual work. To strengthen the sense of national identity. Online puzzle of over 20 words with easy clues. At digital.whatsup.sg from 28 July. ✪ ⭐

We built a nation, strong and free – For CCE & Social Studies, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To value nation building. Students unscramble words to reveal a list of early challenges that post-independence Singapore overcame. ✪ ⭐

PEOPLE SHOW THEY CAN CARE FOR FORESTS (page 8)

Thirty years after some forests in Guatemala were entrusted to local people instead of becoming national parks, both the forests and local communities have benefited. Two other inspiring stories that uphold ground-up solutions are “A drab town blossoms into a garden” (page 9) and “Training youth to solve real-world problems” (page 11).

Girls or Boys? – For English & CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To examine gender stereotypes. With guiding questions, students reflect on a list of common gender stereotypes. ⭐

This is my classroom. I will take care of it. – English & CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To reflect on personal responsibility. Guiding questions for writing a reflective journal entry about responsibility for keeping one’s classroom clean. ⭐

Hear us, please! – English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To apply persuasive language. Guiding questions for writing a letter to the Guatemalan prime minister from the perspective of a member of a local forest community.

THE SPHERE FACTOR (page 12-13)

Planets to eyeballs, bubbles, berries to footballs … why are spheres everywhere? Our centerspread is a salute to spheres, with clear and simple scientific explanations about them.

Give Me A Word – For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practise inferring meanings of words from their contexts. Students fill out a table with appropriate synonyms from the story. ✪

Circles Everywhere – For Art & English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To learn about an artist who loved circles, and to be creative. Students (i) view a video about Sonia Delaunay’s art (ii) create art (iii) write a note of appreciation.

HOPE FOR A RARE PRIMATE (page 15)

Conservationists are excited to discover a new family unit in the Hainan gibbon population. This gibbon is the world’s rarest primate, and there are fewer than 30 left in the world.

My Scientific Journal – For English and Science, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To exercise perspective taking. From a Hainan gibbon researcher’s standpoint, students write journal entries of their imagined journey of discovery.

Chimps & Humans – For Art and Science, level 2. – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To appreciate that humans are part of the animal kingdom. An exercise in presenting an infographic comparing and contrasting humans and chimpanzees.

DOGS HELP SEARCH FOR ANCIENT TREASURES (page 16)

Trained dogs help researchers sniff out human and animal remains from long ago. “A dog’s super senses: smell and hearing” (page 17) explains how dogs can hear and smell so well.

Phrasal verbs – For English, level 1. – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To learn about phrasal verbs. Students identify phrasal verbs in the story, infer their meanings from context, and use them to create sentences of their own. ✪

HAPPY 70TH BIRTHDAY, PEANUTS! (page 18-19)

“The story behind Peanuts” (page 19) is about its creator, Charles M. Schultz, while “Recreating Peanuts” (page 18) is a delightful sampler of Peanuts-inspired art.

Comical Life – For English & Art, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To explore emotions through cartooning. Steps for identifying one’s feelings and using a memorable emotional experience to create a four-framed comic strip.

Peanuts Art: The WOW Factor – For English & Art, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To verbally express art appreciation. Teams present to the class what they see as The WOW Factor in the seven art pieces shown in the story.

GRIT: THE POWER OF PASSION AND PERSEVERANCE (page 20-21)

Prof Angela Lee Duckworth shares her research findings about grit as the key to success.

Don’t Give Up– For English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To write a letter of encouragement. Based on the article, guiding questions to write a letter to a friend to encourage him not to give up despite experiencing failure. ⭐

True Grit – For NE & Social Studies, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To see the power of grit. A gap-fill exercise with jumbled letters, about Singaporeans and others who have achieved greatness despite adversities. ✪ ⭐

✪ 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 National Day