Activities in What’s Up
• Contest: Spinoff Story – page 2
• Contest: If you were Julian – page 15
• Contest: Help Tee & Boba – page 21
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
A BATTLE IS BUZZING AGAINST THE DEADLIEST NON-HUMAN ANIMAL (page 01)
An overview of critical developments to eradicate mosquito-borne diseases, especially malaria.
Debates: Long Live Mozzies & Roaches? – For Science & English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To experience debates as an exciting way to explore complex scenarios. Based on this story, as well as two pages about cockroaches, teams debate whether each of these despicable insects should be allowed to live on or whether they should be eradicated forever.
GOOGLE TRANSLATE ADDS 10 MORE AFRICAN LANGUAGES (page 07)
A candid insider perspective on what it means to have 10 more African languages included in Google Translate.
Creating Glyphs – For Social Studies & Art, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To deepen understandings of language. Part 1: students learn about Maya glyphs. Part 2: They create glyphs to communicate a simple idea with their partner.
WORLD CUP WORKERS: QATAR AIMS TO TREAT WORKERS BETTER (page 10)
The World Cup has drawn attention to the plight of migrant workers in Qatar. A young Nepali shares his personal story in “Dreams vs reality: a migrant worker’s story” (page 11).
Migrant Worker Crossword (online) – For English, level 1
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply in the story. Puzzle of 25 words. ⭐
Fact or Opinion? – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To learn how to differentiate between fact and opinion. Students decide whether statements are facts or opinions, and explain their decisions. ⭐
In Another’s Shoes – For CCE & Social Studies, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To grow perspective taking. Students (i) respond to the story (ii) answer questions about a documentary (iii) write and illustrate a note thanking migrant workers.
REFUGEE CHILDREN CARRY MEMORIES OF HOME (page 12-13)
Our centerspread is a heart-warming photo essay of what displaced children chose to take with them to their adoptive countries.
Everything Has a Story – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To appreciate meanings attached to ordinary things. The student (i) selects five personal belongings to take if they had to move to a smaller home (ii) sketches and describes another five lost/discarded items found at school (iii) writes a creative essay about one.
NEW TREASURE HUNTERS WANT TO RETURN PRECIOUS OBJECTS TO THEIR HOMELANDS (page 14-15)
Some museums are working hard to return stolen artefacts to their rightful owners. International bodies such as UNESCO help to stop the looting and educate people about it.
Dear Museum Curators – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To practise writing and delivering a persuasive speech. Guidelines and tips for developing the speech to convince a team of museum curators to return stolen artefacts.
Cloze Passage: A Curator’s Reflections – For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To strengthen reading comprehension. With helping words, the student completes a gap-fill passage of an imaginary journal entry by a museum curator. ⭐
DON’T PANIC: WHO’S AFRAID OF COCKROACHES? NOT HIM (page 16)
Meet a scientific officer at the Lee Kong Chian Natural History Museum, Foo Maosheng, who had pet cockroaches as a child. “How did cockroaches outlive the dinosaurs?” (page 17) explains their capacity to survive.
Create Your Own Insect – For Science & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To apply design thinking for sci-fi. The pair creates an imaginary insect that would be capable of facing extreme 21st century climate change.
Really Not Yucky – For Science & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To look for good in all things. The student forms an A–Z list of adjectives about a “yucky” living thing, describes it in a guessing game, and shares 10 points in favour of it.
THE QUIET SHOES THAT TOOK THE WORLD BY STORM (page 22-23)
An engaging history of sneakers. Side bar “Sneaker technology” highlights special features.
Shoes Show-and-Tell – For English & CCE, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To enjoy storytelling. Each student selects a favourite pair of footwear, responds to prompts about it, and participates in a whole class show-and-tell about personal footwear.
How Legendary Sneakers Got Their Names – For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To hone reading comprehension. Each type of sneaker is to be matched with the correct famous athlete it was named after. ⭐
STORYTELLING: STORIES CAN GROW IN MANY DIRECTIONS (page 18)
With side bars “Fanfiction” and “Now, let your imagination fly!” as well as “A best-selling author answers your questions” (page 20), this special section is usable as a resource for several of the activities above.
⭐ 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.
