Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China is one of the world’s largest public squares. But, it has a dark history. Credit: Daniel Case
This month’s IDEAS activities
Remembering Tiananmen (page 7)
A look back at the Tiananmen Square demonstrations 30 years ago, and why China does not want to talk about it.
Let’s Use Relative Pronouns! – For English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To use relative pronouns correctly. The student is to form compound sentences using the given relative pronouns and pairs of sentences.
Reporting Live from Tiananmen – For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practice using correct tenses. Students report the activities from Tiananmen in real time by using the appropriate tenses in a gap fill exercise.
Helping refugees adapt to life after war (page 8-9)
Two stories. In “Syrian family comes home to a town ravaged by war”, Christopher Reardon shares returning Syrians’ efforts to rebuild their lives. “Lebanon’s ‘Fun Bus’ offers kids a respite from street work” by Dalal Mawadis about a mobile school in a bus in Beirut.
Soliloquy: A Survivor’s Hopes (CCE & English, Level 2) – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To grow empathy and develop oracy. Each group selects one person from the provided list, develops a soliloquy from his or her standpoint, and presents it in class.
Tech titans (page 15-16)
About five superstars of high technology —Bill Gates, Jack Ma, Jeff Bezos, Elon Musk, and Mark Zuckerberg. A candid look at their achievements as well as some big mistakes.
Compare and Contrast – For English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To systematically compare and contrast qualities. In the given table, the student fills in information about each tech titan’s profile for easy comparison.
A Fulfilling Life – For CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To examine time needed for a fulfilling life. Students (i) indicate the time they will allocate for each of five given essentials (ii) articulate their ideals for adulthood.
The smart watch that saves lives (page 14-15)
Professor Picard and her team have invented a smart watch that can save the lives of people living with epilepsy. Prof Picard’s amazing invention began with a classroom experiment.
A Big Idea for Our Classroom Project — For English & Science, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To encourage students to dream big. Students to imagine a class project of their own that may lead to an important discovery or invention for mankind.
Character Study: Prof Picard –– For CCE, English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practise character analysis. Students to analyse what Prof Picard’s story says about her character, and how her actions exemplify certain character traits.
Some words hurt. Put them in the dustbin.(page 17)
Part of our “Regardless of Race” series, this article looks at racial slurs and other words that hurt.
From Many Standpoints – For CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To become more aware of cultural blind spots. Steps for conducting a round-robin exercise followed by a gallery walk and whole-class discussion.
Clean Up Your Classroom! – For CCE & English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To increase the use of more gracious language. Students decide whether words heard amongst peers should be discarded or treasured.
Packaging from online shopping creates a big headache (page 19)
One billion trees are chopped down to make billions of packages for online shopping every year. Explains why reducing usage is better than recycling materials.
Little Drops of Water – For CCE & English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To appreciate the cumulative effect of small steps. By unscrambling 15 jumbled sentences, students unravel steps they can take to help save the environment.
The Cost of Consumerism –– For CCE and English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To prompt critical thinking and deeper reflection. Prompts for small groups to discuss the consequences of a culture of consumerism.
Reducing Beats Recycling — For Art, CCE & English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practise persuasive techniques using visual literacy. Each pair designs an advertisement for digital use, explaining that using less packaging is better than recycling.
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.
