Asean countries’ leaders at a retreat in May 2017 – Picture by ASEAN SECRETARIAT
Dear teachers,
This month, What’s Up celebrates Asean’s 50th anniversary by sharing 50 reasons we love Southeast Asia. Our students learn enough about this region to know its key pride points. Yet, there is still a strong feeling that western countries are better. What’s Up once received a letter from a reader saying that she felt sad listening to essays read out in class after the June school break. The topic? Holiday highlights. She said many of her classmates went to Australia, Europe, and the US while her family made a trip “only to Malaysia”. As students browse through the Asean special in What’s Up, perhaps they will have a new appreciation of the astonishing richness of this region.
The rest of the October issue offers more global stories ranging from governments uniting to fight pollution to how gradually cats became pets. There is also a big question that will resonate with some of your students: whether Neymar will turn PSG into the Man-U of France. Not to worry, we’ll be back next year to answer it. On that note, all of us at News For Kids wish you well during this time of celebrations as well as good byes to your 2017 classes.
Sincerely,
Mary George
For the What’s Up team
THIS MONTH’S IDEAS ACTIVITIES
Happy 50th birthday Asean! (page 6-16)
Beautiful images illustrate 50 items we love about this region. This special section includes an interview with Lee Chen Chen, director of the Singapore Institute of International Affairs (see “One Singaporean’s view: Why I love Asean”).
Asean Today – For Social Studies, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To become more familiar with Asean nations. Students identify the member nations on an outline regional map, and fill out a table with related facts.*
Celebration T-shirts – For Art & Social Studies, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To explore artistic expression of a given theme. Guidelines for designing a T-shirt to commemorate Asean’s 50 years.
Garden Festival – Check It Out! – For CCE & Science, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To better value community gardening for social cohesion. A planner for enjoying the upcoming Community Garden Festival (3-5 November) by NParks.
Our new President (page 17)
The inspiring life of Singapore’s first female President, Halimah Yacob. Then, on page 18-19 is “The most powerful woman in the world” about another amazing female head of state, Germany’s Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Dear President Halimah — English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To demonstrate care for others through written affirmation. Steps for writing a letter to the new President in response to the What’s Up story.
All In A Comic — For English & Art, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To hone perspective taking and creative communication. Worksheet for transforming scenes from Angele Merkel’s life into an eight-part comic strip.
I CAN… be the change! – For CCE & English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To realise that even children can be agents of change. Steps for planning a whole-class learning journey to the exciting 8th Annual Be The Change Exposition on Wednesday 8 November by SoCh in Action.
The expanding world of digital currencies (page 20)
Explains how credit and debit cards work, and how billions of dollars’ worth of activity is tracked across the globe.
In SGD Please! – For Mathematics, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To apply math concepts and skills. Four math problems involving credit and debit cards, compound interest and conversion of currencies to and from SGD. *
Individual exercise. To strengthen vocabulary and syntax. Students: (i) examine the use of given phrases in the story (ii) use the phrases to construct sentences of their own.
How cats became our pets (page 21)
The history of the domesticated cat: historians have evidence that it took thousands of years for humans to start keeping cats as pets.
Pussy cat, pussy cat, where have you been? – For English & Social Studies, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practice using timelines. On a given timeline, students chart the history of house cats based on the story. They then construct timelines of their personal life events. *
Telling stories of Singapore’s past (page 22)
The ninth installment of our Heritage Hero series features Eva Tang, a local filmmaker who makes movies about Singapore’s heritage.
Down Memory Lane– For Art & CCE level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To capture memorable moments of school days. Guidelines for creating memorabilia through interviews, photographs, and slideshows.
Can PSG become the Manchester United of France? (page 23)
Our sports writer, Omar Chaudhuri, looks at whether Paris Saint-Germain’s purchase of Neymar can really turn them into a superclub.
Individual exercise. To practice sentence construction. Eight given compound sentences are to be split into simple sentences without changing the original meanings. *
Debate: Big-money Football — English & CCE, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Whole class. To hone teamwork and debating skills. Guidelines for: (i) Round Robins to prepare points for teams (ii) teams to debate. Motion provided.
*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.
