A wall mural painted by Yip Yew Chong in Jalan Pinang. – Picture by Rachel Heng.
Dear teachers,
Fifteen years ago, a mother wrote to us about her daughter, a kindergartner who started reading very early. The little girl so loved the idea of having her very own newspaper that she kept What’s Up under her pillow when she went to bed every night. That child would be a young adult now. Does she remember What’s Up? Did any of our stories have a lasting impact on her? I guess we’ll never find out unless she happens to be a teacher reading this. Teachers, you know what it is like to have your former students stand before you as adults recalling special moments in your classroom. The wisdom that infuses hindsight makes looking back years later very different from real-time feedback. That’s why our editorial team would love to hear from adults who read What’s Up when they were in school. If you were a What’s Up kid, help us to celebrate our 15th anniversary by sharing your memories of our newspaper: email letters@whatsup.sg.
Sincerely,
Mary George
Editor- What’s Up
THIS MONTH’S IDEAS ACTIVITIES
South Africa’s new hope (page 6)
Cyril Ramaphosa, the new President of South Africa, is determined to make history through reforms that will eradicate corruption. Some people have new hope while others remain skeptical.
Pairwork. To practice mathematical problem solving. Word problems, arithmetic, writing in numerals, patterns. *
Dear President — English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To express written affirmation. Steps for writing a letter to South Africa’s Cyril Ramaphosa to wish him success.
Students speaking out for their lives (page 9)
Following the shocking high school shooting that killed 17 people, surviving students want to turn the tragedy into positive change.
Speaking Out — For CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To assess whether the cause that students from MSD are speaking out for is a just one. Guiding questions for listing the pros and cons of the MSD students’ demands. *
It is hard to recover from wars, so don’t start them (page 11)
A look at Sri Lanka’s progress in recovering from its long civil war.
A-maze X-change — For English & CCE, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To strengthen figure-ground perception and visual-spatial processing skills for literacy. Moving through a maze, identify strategies to avoid conflicts from escalating. This is followed by a discussion about the value of such strategies. *
Right up art alley (page 12–13)
A refreshing introduction to various forms of street art found locally and in other cities.
Free-for-all Debate — English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole class activity. To develop verbal debating skills. A debate format where all students can participate.
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 sentences of their own.
Nature from the air, and underground (page 16–17)
Two stories about technology helping humans get close to nature. “A bird’s eye view of Africa” is about George Steinmetz photographing Africa from his custom-built aircraft that is the world’s slowest and lightest. “A clearer look at life underground” tells us how tiny cameras strapped to meerkats are enabling us to learn about their incredible underground mazes.
Whole class. To experience using only nonverbal language and whole-body movements to communicate. A relaxing game of charades where teams have to enact wildlife.
Lasers cast new light on buried city (page 21)
Thanks to LiDAR laser technology, archaeologists are able to study the ruins of an ancient Mayan civilisation buried under the tropical jungles of northern Guatemala.
Now You See, Now You Don’t — For Science level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To become familiar with some technologies that enable us to view things that are invisible to the naked eye. Students have to match the named technologies, the science behind them and how they are used to benefit humankind. *
*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, or fill the form on the front page of this website.
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.
