This year’s Racial Harmony Day (RHD) will be our first since Singapore ratified ICERD (the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination) last November. It is a landmark in our nation’s journey towards greater social harmony. To some, that may seem an exaggeration given that racial (and religious) harmony has been valued since independence. In which case, how could ICERD make a difference to, let’s say, RHD 2018?
I would argue the answer lies in the metacognitive levels at which teachers and school leaders function when planning for the core National Education events. We are in a good place as it is. In my capacity as a teacher educator going into schools for practicum supervision, I’ve seen how far we’ve come in understandings of RHD’s potential. Back in the late 1990s, RHD activities tended to hover at the celebration level. Great photo opportunities! Twenty years on, the photos are better than ever. But, these pictures don’t reveal how RHD teaching and learning goals have been morphing in leaps and bounds.
Dressing up and sharing foods are now often only the frills gracing more meaningful, in-depth activities. For instance, many teachers make time for classroom conversations and exercises on sensitive topics relating to ethnicity, descent, and even skin colour. Yes, they dare go there. Whether you are in that boat or not, grappling with the application aspects of ICERD can further stimulate deep thinking about every child and adult’s right to dignity and equality at your school. ICERD can indeed make a difference if you let it.
On our part, What’s Up will be explaining ICERD to kids and teens in a series of articles beginning in August. For RHD 2018, we will make available suitable IDEAS resources free of charge to all schools. Watch this space for more details coming soon.
Sincerely,
Mary George
Editor – What’s Up
THIS MONTH’S IDEAS ACTIVITIES
Smart ways to deal with waste (page 7)
Using greenhouse farming in the Netherlands as an example, this story explains the value of waste-to-energy technology.
Pairwork. To better appreciate the role of science in everyday living. Students are to identify processes shown in a diagram of a waste-to-energy conversion plant. *
Individual. To use art as a vehicle for expressing concern for the environment. The student inserts hope-filled statements on behalf of sea creatures in the given artwork.
After 60 years, Condor Heroes is out in English (page 14)
This story explains the challenges of translating this epic Chinese classic about a superhero, and why wuxia remains popular in modern China. A second story about creators of superheroes, “Comic war: Marvel vs DC” (page 16-17), explains the competition between Marvel and DC.
Art Speaks to Me – CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To find meaning in art and artists’ insights. An exercise in responding to artist Linda Yew’s Art-To-Heart illustration and letter about venturing out of comfort zones.
Groupwork. To grow in self-awareness. Guidelines for an oral presentation about group members’ perceived similarities with fictional superheroes. List provided.
Destroyed treasures come alive with 3D models (page 20)
Using thousands of 2D photos, archaeologists are working with computer programmers to create virtual 3D replicas of destroyed monuments.
What’s the Good Word?– For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practise careful reading for comprehension. Students match 12 words from the story with the closest synonyms from a list. Followed by sentence construction. *
Hand-made Jigsaw Puzzles – For Art & Social Studies, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To express creativity through art and craft. Steps for constructing simple 2D jigsaw puzzles of favourite scenes.
Special hospitals (page 8-9)
Two snapshots of medical services for hard-to-reach communities: “Hospital in a war zone” about a children’s hospital in Syria; “India’s floating clinics” about boat clinics for rural Indian families along the Brahmaputra River.
Active and Passive Voices –For English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To practise using active and passive voices. Students identify the use of either voice in seven given sentences, and rewrite them in the opposing voice. *
Using Phrasal Verbs –For English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To strengthen vocabulary and syntax. Students find phrasal verbs used in the story, and then form original sentences with them. *
Arsenal after Arsène (page 23)
After 22 years as its manager, Arsène Wenger has left Arsenal. Our sports writer, Omar Chaudhuri, comments on what this could mean for the football club.
What a Chance! Fun with Probability– For Math, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To hone the skill of mathematical prediction. Math problems involving probable and favourable outcomes, and mutually exclusive and exhaustive events. *
The Better Coach? –For English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice forming an argument. Teams discuss their reasons for picking either the current or the past Arsenal coach over the other.
* Answers to asterisked 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.
At What’s Up, we do most of the work, writing stories for students to read every month. But, we know that many of our readers also enjoy writing or want to have their say. Encourage your students to write us a letter. Ask them to visit share.whatsup.sg.
VIDEOS AND OTHER EXTRAS
Our supplementary site digital.whatsup.sg contains videos, puzzles and other extras associated with the articles in our newspaper. Use them in class or ask your students to explore the site on their own.
OUR PHILOSOPHY & VALUES
We believe values should—and do—count when schools choose resources for their students. Values-driven journalism is at the core of our mission. Find out more by exploring the ABOUT WHAT'S UP link.
