Activities in What’s Up:
• Flag the Flags – page 2
• Fallen Letters – page 21
• Contest: How will the story end? – 20
• Art Contest: Canteen Buskers – page 22
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
WARS MUST STOP, WHEREVER THEY ARE (page 1)
Considers factors that explain why the war in Ukraine is getting more global attention than other recent conflicts. “Things you should know about the war in Ukraine” (page 12–13) is a child-friendly explanation about peace talks, the United Nation’s role, war propaganda, and why small countries too deserve respect.
An Empathy Note – For CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To practice expressing empathy. Guiding questions and a table for drafting an empathy note to a friend or relative who is going through a personal conflict.
Quarrels Big and Small – For CCE & Art, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To reflect deeply on the hurts caused by quarrels and the need to heal. A poignant art activity symbolising love and bonding, separation and hurt, and healing.
Heal the World– For CCE & Music, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To create art that promotes healing. (1) A fact-matching exercise based on the What’s Up cover story. (2) Creating artwork done as a sequel to the “Quarrels Big and Small” activity. ⭐
ANIMATION INSPIRATIONS: BRING OBJECTS TO LIFE (page 18-19)
A delightful look at the art of anthropomorphism as seen in Disney’s art, and the similarities with rococo art.
Anthropomorphism Everywhere – For English & Art, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To explore the concept of anthropomorphism in daily life. Each group looks for and sketches four ordinary objects at school that can appear as if they have faces (pareidolia) to create a presentation on anthropomorphism. ⭐
Diary of a Potato – For English & Art, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To enjoy the powers of imagination. Guidelines to anthropomorphise a familiar object by (i) imagining its thoughts and feelings while observing it at four different times of the day (ii) writing and illustrating a short journal entry from its point of view.
MARVELLOUS NEW USES FOR MYCELIUM (page 16)
Along with “Singapore is working towards net-zero emissions” (page 6) and “Hello? Calling for new ideas for old phone booths” (page 21), three stories about ingenious ways of being good to planet Earth.
Summary Writing – For English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practise summary writing skills. Students identify points in the article and write a summary of what Singapore is doing to achieve net zero. ⭐
Your customers will love this! – For English & Art, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To attempt advertisement designing. Prompts for developing a convincing flyer targeted at local retailers to promote any one mycelium product.
Seriously, Have You Met Sea-rius Li? – For Science & English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Group and whole-class activity. To plan and deliver promotional speeches. Each group introduces one of PUB’s Sea-rius Li episodes and leads a class discussion about it. For World Water Day Campaign 2022.
Be the Voices of Water Wally & Sally – For English & Media Arts, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To strengthen perspective taking and oracy skills. Each group does a voice over for one of the silent videos of PUB mascots Water Wally and Sally. For World Water Day Campaign 2022.
DISCOVERING THE MANY ORIGINS OF MALAY FOOD (page 15)
Historian Khir Johari investigates how the cuisines of many ethnicities came together to form the Malay food of Singapore.
Noodles Around the World – For Social Studies & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To appreciate culinary diversity as cultural heritage. The student watches a video on how noodles are made in different parts of the world, responds to prompts about what people in the video said as well as personal preferences, and writes an essay titled “Lovable Noodles”. ⭐
LOCAL PRIMATE EXPERTS WANT YOU TO KNOW ABOUT A RARE MONKEY (page 14)
Two local primate experts talk to What’s Up about their hope for saving the langur. Meanwhile, “Movie spotlights red pandas” (page 19) may be vital to the survival of this species.
The Do’s & Don’ts of Monkey Business – For English & Science, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To better understand the needs of primates in public spaces. A True-False quiz about how to behave when encountering primates in public spaces. ⭐
Unrelated Pandas – For English & Science, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To apply reading comprehension. The student compares and contrasts the Red Panda and the Giant Panda using the facts given in the What’s Up story. ⭐
What I Feel Stressed About – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To share healthy strategies for coping with stress. Each group (i) uses metaphors and similes to complete two short fill-in-the-blank poems describing stress and relaxation (ii) identifies situations which cause them stress and (iv) selects, from a given list, their top three favorite ways to de-stress and relax. ⭐
BRINGING ENTERTAINMENT TO THE STREETS (page 22)
What motivates our local street performers and how they enrich our lives. More about quality of life with UAE being “The first country to have a 2.5-day weekend” (page 8). And, how “Formula 1 is exciting again” (page 23).
Synthesis and Transformation – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To practise joining sentences together using relative pronouns. Students rewrite given pairs of sentences as single sentences. ⭐
My Fantastic Performance – For English & Art, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To express creativity through art. A worksheet for developing content for a poster publicising an imaginary performance in the school canteen. The poster may then be submitted for the What’s Up “Art Contest: Canteen Buskers”.
Crossword (online)– For English, level 1
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply with the story. Puzzle of over 20 words with easy clues.
Really boring…? – For Science & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To explore the likelihood that boring things may become interesting when understood better. Students (i) rate how boring things around them are (ii) rate a picture of dental floss before and after watching a video on how it is made (iii) investigate how three of the most boring things in their lives are made and present their findings in a flow chart (iii) reflect on how boring things can become interesting when we know more about them. ⭐
⭐ 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.
