Activities in What’s Up:
• Word Find – page 2
• Five Values – page 15
• Contest: If I were the author – page 19
• When you wish upon a star – page 23
ACTIVITY IDEAS
for the October 2020 issue of What’s Up
BARBADOS TO DROP THE QUEEN (page 6)
In November 2021, Barbados will appoint a local president to replace Queen Elizabeth II as its head of state. Find out why a handful of colonised countries chose to retain the British queen even after independence.
Commonwealth of Nations – For Social Studies, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Pair work. To learn more about the Commonwealth of Nations. Students unscramble letters to discover the names of member nations of the Commonwealth ✪
CALIFORNIA FIGHTING MASSIVE WILDFIRES (page 8)
California is being ravaged by wildfires at an astonishing rate. This article looks at the lives of a few individuals affected by the fires. It also examines some reasons for the fires.
Bouncing Back – For English, CCE, Science, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Pair work. To grow a deeper understanding of societal crises. Students complete a guided mind map to unpack some challenges of 2020 and survival strategies.
Explaining Climate Change – For Science & English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practice distilling complex information for a speech. Students (i) visit the kids’ section of the NASA website to learn about climate change (ii) write a short speech targeted at preschoolers.
Dear Diary – English & CCE, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To promote self-reflection and empathy. Putting themselves in the shoes of Toby Wait, a wildfire evacuee, students write a diary entry about experiencing the wildfire. With guiding questions to help shape their reflection.
LEGO WANTS TO USE LESS PLASTIC (page 9)
Another well-loved brand is moving away from plastic. Lego is listening to its young fans.
Let’s Write a Letter – For English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To practise formal letter writing. The student writes a letter to a retailer of their choice, asking them to reduce plastic use, using points taken from the article.
WHAT WENT WRONG WITH DISNEY’S MULAN (page 11)
The live-action movie was expected to be a huge success. A closer look at why it was not.
Combining sentences – For English, level 2 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practise synthesis and transformation. Students rewrite sentences using prompts. ✪
Mulan’s evolution – For English, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual. To practise reading comprehension. Students fill in a graphic organiser about the differences between the legend of Mulan and its film adaptations. ✪
FANTASTIC FISH (page 16-17)
Three stories about fish: “Fish that walk on land”, “Fish that munch rocks”, and “How fish sleep”.
Fish Rock! – For Science & Art, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual Work. To extract interesting facts that they have learnt about different species of fish. To imagine how the fish look, and express these facts in drawings. To create pebble art based on their inspirations.
COCOA FARMERS CANNOT AFFORD CHOCOLATES. IS THIS FAIR? (page 20)
Cocoa farmers get only a fraction of what we pay for chocolates. This story explains how Fairtrade International and others are helping them.
Cocoa Percentages – For Math, level 3 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To learn about percentages. Students solve problem sums involving percentages. Given a list of food items that contains cocoa, students calculate how much a cocoa farmer can earn from each food item. ✪
ART TO HEART (page 23)
A lovely illustration of looking back so that the view looking forward is even clearer.
2020 Reflections – For CCE & English, level 1 – DOWNLOAD
Individual work. To encourage reflection. Students reflect on the year 2020, and express their hindsight in a drawing with some guidelines as a starting point.
✪ 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.
