ACTIVITIES in What’s Up:
• Play: Quick Connects – page 2
• Same, Yet Different – page 6
• Contest: If I were Layla – page 15
• Contest: A Walk to Nowhere – page 16
• This is not a carrot – page 23
ACTIVITIES at ideas.whatsup.sg
PEOPLE OF MYANMAR WANT THE ARMY TO GIVE BACK THEIR COUNTRY (page 1)
A child-friendly account of the ongoing tensions between the military and the people in Myanmar.
Pick A Word – For English & Social Studies, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To strengthen reading comprehension and syntax. The student completes a gap-fill exercise, using words from a given list. ✪
Crossword Puzzle – For English, level 1
Individual work. To strengthen vocabulary and comprehension. An online 30-word puzzle with easy clues. Will be active at digital.whatsup.sg from Monday 22 March.
RECYCLING OLD IDEAS TO REDUCE WASTE (page 8)
Two engineers set a good example by launching a waste-free, hassle-free online grocery store and delivery service in Switzerland. The business, Lyfa, now delivers to the whole country.
More Trash to Treasure – For English and Art – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To develop and communicate ideas for repurposing. After watching a five-minute video about repurposing objects, students (ii) repurpose a familiar object (iii) use a comic-strip template to write an instructional guide for the object’s new use.
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.
JAM Speeches – English & Science, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To experience just-a-minute (JAM) speeches to pitch an idea. The topic: Innovative Reusing. Round 1: Every team member presents a JAM speech to the team. Round 2: Three members from each team present their JAM speeches to the class.
HUMBLE TEACHER SHARES HIS BIG PRIZE WITH OTHERS (page 10)
About the innovative methods used by Ranjitsinh Disale, the Varkey Foundation Global Teacher Prize winner. He is sharing the prize money with the other finalists. On the next page is a story about another exceptional teacher, Jill Biden: “US First Lady is a teacher first” (page 11).
Nominate a Teacher – For English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To experience affirming someone through an award nomination. Guidelines for writing a letter to nominate an outstanding teacher for the Varkey Foundation award. ❖
Your Gestalt Power – For CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To appreciate the brain’s power to form gestalts. An exercise in correcting 38 words with missing vowels. Explains the seeing of gestalts as a power all of us have. ✪
Imagine: What Makes Them Happy? – For CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Group activity. To practice empathy. From ten images provided, each group prepares and presents what they imagine would make their focus person(s) happy. An activity for celebrating the International Day of Happiness (20 March). ❖
SPEEDING TOWARDS HYBRID RACE CARS (page 12-13)
Our centrefold will excite any race car fan. The focus is on how next year’s race cars will be safer, cheaper, and better for the environment. Shifting gears but still about speed is a must-read for self-awareness about our brains: “Slow thinking and fast thinking” (page 19).
My Dream Race Car – For English and Art, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To use summary writing to systematically visualise solutions. Students (i) list challenges of rally car racing in the given table (ii) follow the summary writing guidelines to construct a 150-word paragraph (iii) design a dream Rally Racer Car that overcomes the identified challenges. ✪
COME, “BATHE” IN A FOREST (page 18)
Read about a local forest bathing experience at Clementi Forest, and the Japanese Shinrin Yoku tradition that is good for mental health.
Seeing Beauty All Around – For English and Art, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To see beauty in unexpected places. Students take a quiet walk around the school compound looking for “accidental art”. They sketch and write about three examples ❖
Unscramble the Letters – For Science & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To foster reading with comprehension. Students unscramble letters to form words in sentences describing forest bathing. ✪
ART TO HEART (page 23)
Once again, What’s Up artist Linda Yew inspires us to think about the need to try a different way when we are not making any progress dealing with a challenge.
Try a Different Way! – For English and CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual Work. To experience systematic solution seeking. Students (1) fill in speech bubbles in the artwork (2) suggest a different method enabling the rabbit to catch fish (3) follow a four-step process to devise a new way to improve something in their lives. ❖
✪ 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.
❖ Suitable for International Day of Happiness (20 March).
