Contest in What’s Up
• Creating Worlds – page 23
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
Doing our best can give us happiness, says new PM Lawrence Wong (page 1 & 28)
Shares the philosophy that Lawrence Wong has been explaining in his recent speeches. Illustrating some of these values is “A Korean girl’s dream comes true” (page 17), about successful violin maker Ayoung An’s courage and determination.
A Letter of Appreciation – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To express appreciation in writing. The student (1) responds to prompts after watching two videos about violins (2) follows prompts to write a letter to either Ayoung An or Chloe Chua expressing appreciation of her work.
Realising Dreams – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To plan for realising a personal ambition. The student (1) lists how violin maker Ayoung An dealt with obstacles (2) identifies strategies that may help overcome challenges in realising a personal ambition. ⭐
Peru’s monkey man (page 6)
A 73-year-old park ranger, Orlando Zagazeta, lives deep in the Amazon jungle, helping rescued monkeys resettle in the wild. At the other extreme, some “High-flying pets” (page 12–13), travel comfortably on planes with their human companions. And, street cats are so well cared for in “A country in love with cats” (page 22–23) that an anthropologist reflects on what this says about the cat-human relationship.
Design a Turkish Cat Cafe – For Social Studies & Art, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To experience designing a space infused with distinct cultural elements. Based on the What’s Up article and a video on Turkish cat culture, each group follows steps to design a Turkish cat café. Groups present their designs to the class. ⭐
Keeping the love of books alive in Afghanistan (page 7)
When his bookshop was destroyed, Shah Muhammad Rais bounced back from the shock and found ways to keep the love of books alive in his country. “Peranakan beaded slippers” (Page 24) tells of keeping alive another part of our cultural heritage. Not all of heritage is to be celebrated, as “Famous American university apologises for its links to the slave trade” (page 11) reminds us.
Show-and-Tell (Books) – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practice oracy and share the love for books. The student prepares a five-minute sharing about a favourite book by responding to guiding questions. The class has a show-and-tell sharing of books.
Bouncing Back! – For English & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To examine challenges in solution-focused ways. Each student completes (i) a table about Mr Rais’ story (ii) a parallel table for planning actions to address a real or imaginary problem situation. In small groups, members brainstorm solutions which gives each student ideas for completing their individual tables. ⭐
Creating Repeated Patterns – For Maths & Art, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To enjoy creating repeated patterns using the tile method inspired by Peranakan beadwork. The student identifies recurring motifs in a sampler of Peranakan beaded slipper designs, replicates one pattern on the given grid template, and applies the tiling method to create a seamless repeated pattern for a slipper design. After sharing the art with the class, the student responds to reflection prompts.
Indoor Stadium: demolish or upgrade? (page 8–9)
An objective look at both options in relation to the current conversations about iconic buildings. The third option, relocating, can be a monumental task as we can see from “A nature museum prepares to move house” (page 18–19).
Arguments For and Against – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To see the value of considering both sides of a dilemma. Using the Indoor Stadium story, groups complete an organizer, summarising the purpose of the indoor stadium and the advantages of (i) demolishing and rebuilding and (ii) upgrading. ⭐
Museum Tour Guide – For Science & English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To enjoy role playing a docent in action. Students (1) sketch and write a detailed description of a museum specimen (2) develop a presentation about it (3) enact a museum docent presenting their selected exhibit to museum visitors.
Trouble on Bananal Island (page 10)
Why the first peoples here face food shortages and what can be done about it. Thanks to indigenous youths’ initiative, “A hardy plant is helping to save Lake Uru Uru” (page 16) in Bolivia. Meanwhile, “Amazing ants” (page 20–21) enlightens about an invasive species as “Australia fights fire ants”. More about formidable networks in “An ant community that is bigger than an empire”. This month, an ant even makes its way into “Tee & Boba” (page 28) when the three are able to happily share a single last peanut.
Which Cleans Best? – For English & Science, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To experiment with water filtering. (1) Each student reads the Lake Uru Uru story and completes a gap fill about the totora plant’s role in phytoremediation (2) Groups follow instructions to experiment with three ways of filtering water. ⭐
Last Piece Syndrome – For English & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To explore imagined responses to various last-piece scenarios. Based on the Tee and Boba story. The student (1) completes a poem about last pieces (2) rates their likely responses to 14 last-piece scenarios (3) works in pairs to compare and contrast responses with the help of guiding prompts.
“Why healthy meals beat ‘energy drinks’” (page 25)
Explains why countries around the world are keeping these beverages away from children.
Weighing the Pros and Cons –For English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice thoughtful decision making. Students discuss the pros and cons of consuming energy drinks and possible alternatives to such drinks.
Will Euro 2024 bring glory to Germany? (page 27)
Looks at whether home advantage will help Germany to play better at Euro 2024. As fervent as football fans, theme park enthusiasts will be happy to learn from “Theme parks: clash of the titans” (page 14–15) that new theme parks are competing with Disneyland and Universal Studies to woo them.
Theme Parks Crossword (online)– For English, level 1
Individual. To practise reading comprehension. Students complete a 20-word crossword puzzle based on the theme-parks story. ⭐
⭐ 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.
