Contests in What’s Up
• My Cosmic Twin – page 21
• My Dream Outing at Bird Paradise – page 23
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
Time for countries to get serious about protecting biodiversity (page 1 & 28))
About the UN meeting this month to address the ambitious goals of the 2022 Biodiversity Plan. While countries meet on a global level, one man is on a personal quest at Kew Gardens, “Saving plants from around the world” (page 22-23)
Acrostic Poem: Guess My Singapore Plant – For Science & Literature, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To explore the use of poetry to engage in plant life. After watching two videos, the student writes and illustrates an acrostic riddle about a favourite local plant and challenges the class to guess which plan it is.
Free-for-All Debate: Biodiversity — English & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To more deeply understand biodiversity, and hone verbal debating skills. A debate format where all students can participate. The Motion: “Children should not be burdened with helping to fix biodiversity problems created by adults. Children can help when they grow up.”
How a health worker helps people far away from hospitals and clinics (page 10)
About an unstoppable health worker who reaches nomadic tribes in Mongolia by riding reindeer and managing with limited medical resources. Meanwhile, “Childbirth is getting safer, thanks to medical advances” (page 11) in the global south. More about health, “Visiting inner space” (page 12) tells us how the PillBot is helping in a big way with medical diagnoses.
Synthesis & Transformation — For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To practice sentence reconstruction. Based on the Mongolian health-worker story, the student transforms five pairs of sentences through synthesis. ⭐
Survival Guide for the Taiga – For Geography & Social Studies, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To better understand the challenges of a harsh terrain such as the taiga in Mongolia. After watching a video, the students design and create a survival guide for a health worker travelling through the taiga. Attractive template and guidelines provided.
Skills and Qualities – For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual & Groupwork. To grow awareness about professional skills and qualities. Based on the health-worker story, each student answers a set of comprehension questions and lists skills and qualities needed to be a travelling health worker. In small groups, students brainstorm how to get equipped for their own dream jobs. ⭐
Some cooking videos on TikTok are becoming too popular (page 7)
An interesting read about the unforeseen consequences of some cooking videos going viral on TikTok.
Sentence Expansion — For English, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To enjoy composing rich descriptions. Using the story, each student expands the ten given sentences by filling in the blanks with the given clues. They write simple sentences to describe a recent experience of eating or cooking a type of food. Then, they expand each sentence by adding details to make it interesting. In groups, the students share their stories and give one another feedback and suggestions on how to further develop the sentences. ⭐
Fake news about immigrants is causing them harm (page 9)
The American election campaigning included a lie about Haitian immigrants, with serious repercussions for the immigrants. A lesson on the danger of fake news.
Truth or Lie – For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Group work. To use the 5Ws as a method to discern truth from lies. Using the story, each student completes a table about the fake news and the harm caused. In groups, the students each take turns to share two incidents that happened to them — one true and one false. The group discerns which ones are false by asking the five Ws. ⭐
Monkey See, Monkey Do – CCE & PE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Whole-class activity. To enjoy a traditional game and use it as a metaphor for spreading fake news. Steps for playing the game, followed by reflection guided by prompts.
Goodbye Paris! The Paralympics wraps up with a flourish (page 26)
“The battle to control computer chips” (page 6) is a different kind of race. Meanwhile, Tee and Boba (page 28) wrap up the year and looks forward to a new year.
Simple Summaries — For English & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual and classwork. To write simple summaries. In the prescribed framework, the student writes the summary of Sheetal Devi’s story using the keywords ‘who’, ‘wanted’, ‘but’, ‘so’, and ‘and’. The same is done for Zakia Khudadadi’s story. Using the same technique, the student writes a summary of a recent problem they had encountered and how they had solved it. The students then come together as a class to put up a collage of their summaries. ⭐
My Timeline Poster of 2024 – For CCE & Art, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To recall personal experiences of 2024 into a visual and textual poster that helps them to reflect on their “changes, challenges and cherished moments” over the year. Students create a reflective timeline poster that visually represents each month in 2024 using words and illustrations that reflect that month e.g. New Beginnings, represented by sunrise, warm happy colours, description of activities, emotions, experiences, personal growth, etc. Students can choose to share their timeline posters with a partner.
Life on Mars? (page 16)
About exciting new discoveries on the Red Planet. Scientists are also “Looking for life on other planets” (page 16) based on what life on Earth is like. Followed by the big question, “Could Mars be another Earth?” (page 17)
Martian-Earthling Pen Pal Gift Exchange – For Art & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To strengthen perspective taking through fantasy. Each student writes a letter to a Martian pen pal and includes a gift. The student then pretends to be the Martian and replies to the partner’s letter, with a return (Martian) gift.
Ancient Jewellery Never Goes Out of Style (page 20-21)
Old ornaments from archaeological digs offer insights into how people lived in the past and inspire modern jewellery designs. More on appreciating history, “Stepping back through time” (page 18) is the author’s experience of the Deep Time Walk at Mount Faber.
Ancient Jewellery Designer – For Art & Social Studies, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To experience designing jewellery inspired by ancient culture. Each group (1) watches a video (2) designs a unique piece of jewellery inspired by an ancient culture (3) writes about it (4) presents it to the class.
⭐ 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.
