Activities in What’s Up
• Contest: Letter to the Mayor – page 21
• Fallen Letters Puzzle – page 17
Activities at ideas.whatsup.sg
EVERYONE DESERVES RESPECT SAYS SINGAPORE’S NEW PRESIDENT THARMAN (page 1 & 28)
About President Tharman’s vision for Singapore. “He wants people to have more chances and choices” (page 6) is about how his insights were shaped by his early experiences.
Respect For All Crossword (online) – For English, Level 1
Individual exercise. To demonstrate reading with understanding. Puzzle of over 20 words with easy clues. To be available by 25 September. ⭐
WILDFIRES CAUSE DAMAGE AND GREAT SUFFERING IN MANY COUNTRIES (page 8-9)
The impact of recent wildfires. Side bars “Wildfires in Canada” and “Controlled burns: an ancient practice” explain prevention and control measures. Even as we must protect our forests, “A watchman’s dedication to protect his heritage” (page 10) accentuates the need to protect our built environment as well.
Mind Mappig Wildfires — For English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To engage more deeply in the story through mind mapping. The student (1) fills in the starter mind map with wildfire causes, effects, and solutions (2) constructs a fuller diagram with more details of the same. ⭐
Wildfires: Before & After — For Art & Social Studies, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To use art to convey wildfire impact, and articulate preventive and restorative measures. With video instructions, one student paints a forest scene, and the other paints the aftermath of a wildfire. The artwork is shared with the class, along with ideas for preventing wildfires and restoring forests.
“HELPING ONE PERSON IS BETTER THAN A THOUSAND SOCIAL MEDIA LIKES” (page 18-19)
Taylor Cassidy, a 20-year-old film student, talks about making a greater impact than her wildly popular social media videos. In their own zone at Tee & Boba (page 28), Tee shows us that a little creativity can go a long way in being inclusive.
Our inspirational Wall — For CCE & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To value helping one another. On three given postcard templates, the student writes about (1) an impactful quote from the talk (2) help given to someone else and (3) help received. Students’ postcards are shared on an “inspirational wall” with the class.
Dancing is a Piece of Cake! — For CCE & English, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Pairwork. To practice perspective taking and grow empathy. Each pair (i) fills in thought bubbles in four extracts of the comic strip (ii) reflects on ingredients for an “inclusivity cake”.
All Included! — For English & Drama, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To explore the theme of inclusivity. Each group develops and performs a skit demonstrating how to be inclusive. Students then reflect on the experience by responding to four prompts. Provided: menu of scenarios.
MY STUFF: UMBRELLA (page 24)
A history of the umbrella, including its function as a status symbol. The theme of social status is examined on a deeper level in “How to give women’s sports a fairer chance” (page 25).
Umbrellas That Cover Us All — For Art, English & CCE, level 3 DOWNLOAD
Individual. To reflect on gender biases. Based on the two articles. The student (i) designs a mandala for a gender-neutral umbrella (ii) identifies familiar unfair gender stereotypes and suggests solutions (iii) competes a gap-fill describing an imaginary ultra-inclusive land.
Feedback Etiquette — For English & CCE, level 2 DOWNLOAD
Groupwork. To practice giving and receiving constructive criticism and affirmation for creative work. Each group describes and illustrates a novel use of umbrellas. The other groups give feedback that is used for improving on the original ideas.
BABY BOOM AT THE ZOO (page 12-13)
A photo essay introducing nine baby animals born at our four Mandai wildlife parks. With a “Conservation efforts” box and a side bar, “A history of zoos”. “Pets: natural comedians” (page 14–15) follows with winning images from this year’s Comedy Pet Photo Awards. Next, “Tiger trail” (page 16) takes us into the wild, on a purposeful MYCAT forest trek in Malaysia.
More precious than silver – For Science & Art, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To learn more about wildlife thorough creating biologically-accurate animal ornaments. With the help of an instructional video, each student forms a miniature aluminium-foil sculpture of an animal, hypothetically for a zoo fund raiser.
Game: Animal Bingo – For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Small-group game. To have fun becoming more familiar with the zoo-baby names. Each group plays Bingo using the nine-celled Bingo cards, and list of clues for the game leader to call out. ⭐
LONG AFTER THE FIGHTING IS OVER, THE LAND IS NOT SAFE (page 7)
What is being done about landmines even as they continue to kill and maim in Cambodia and other SEA countries. “Magawa the hero rat” salutes the life-long efforts of this demining rodent. “Japan releases nuclear waste water into the Pacific” (page 9) tells us about another large-scale cleaning up effort. Growing peace and healing can also take place through the arts, as we can see from Sarah Suplina’s stunning “Cut paper art” (page 20–21).
True or False? – For English, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual exercise. To improve reading comprehension. The student determines which of the ten given statements regarding landmines are false and corrects them using the evidence from the story. ⭐
DIY Cut Paper Art – For Art, level 1 DOWNLOAD
Individual activity. To enjoy paper craft for relaxation. Simple steps for creating quick-and-easy cut paper art.
⭐ 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.
