Parents, "Don't Stress" the First Day of School!
December 30, 2008
Mrs Chong and her five children on one of their overseas holidays.
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December 2008 Archives
From Thoughts to Talk: Helping an Autistic Pupil to Communicate
December 26, 2008
Using comic strips and puzzles, Mr Ahmad Najib Muslim coaches Lurk En on social interaction.
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Learning Chinese - from the Classroom into the Community
December 23, 2008
Pupils can deepen their Chinese learning by using it in real-life settings outside school.
An earlier version of this article was published in Lianhe Zaobao on 22 May 2007. For a Chinese version of this article, click here.
"The games I enjoy are bing zhua zei (cops and robbers) and laoying zhua xiaoji (the eagle catches the chicks)." "Mum enjoys going to WuJie Lu (Orchard Road). She says that is where she goes to guangjie (do shopping)." "Dad wants me to go next door to borrow the equipment we need for a barbecue party. How can I say this to the auntie next door in Chinese?"
It may not sound quite right to some ears, but these examples show how children actively build up their knowledge and fluency in the Chinese language. Many kids today grow up speaking English at home, so it's no mean feat to get them to use Chinese phrases and words readily in their daily routine.
If we want our children to reach their full potential, learning and practising Chinese must go on even after classes end each day. Children learn best in a supportive social environment with many opportunities to apply what they have learnt. With this in mind, the new primary school Chinese Language curriculum recognises the value of the broader community in fostering a lifelong habit of learning Chinese.
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Winning Over Young Readers to Great Books
December 18, 2008
Casuarina Primary School book club members with Miss Asnah at the National Library.
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Robotics Makes Maths a Fun and Challenging Ride
December 16, 2008
At Admiralty Secondary School, students use robotic cars to apply maths and physics principles in real-life problem-solving.
What would you do if you were lost in the middle of a desert? Panic and tire yourself out in a frantic search for water and shelter?
If you have with you a student from Admiralty Secondary School, count yourself lucky. For he or she is likely to know how to determine the group’s whereabouts and chart a way to safety by calculating the group’s bearings from their point of origin.
“Lost in the desert” is just one of several scenarios that students at Admiralty Secondary School find themselves in during an i-RIMS Maths class. Working in teams, the students use robotic cars to plot their bearings and apply trigonometry principles to work their way out of a dry and sandy end.
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Our "Mess" - Teachers Get into the Arts
December 15, 2008
The teachers and avid artists of NorthLight welcome you to their "mess".
Remember those days when teachers used to tell you off for making a mess in school?
Well, seven talented teachers from NorthLight School have made a "mess" of their own and will be more than pleased to show it to you at the Substation. "Our Mess" is an art exhibition running from 12 to 24 December, showcasing their artwork, ranging from photography, print art to clay sculptures.
“This is ‘Our Mess’, our collection of interests and interjections,” says Ms Felicia Low, art coordinator at NorthLight School and the creator of "Our Mess". An avid artist, she first hit upon the idea of holding an art exhibition six months ago, when she discovered that some of her colleagues shared similar passions and aptitudes for art.
Rising to a Tall Challenge
December 11, 2008
Go teachers, ‘all the way’! Pupils wave posters to support their teachers in the vertical marathon.
Seventy-three storeys above ground level, five pupils stood in rapt anticipation on the helipad of Swissôtel The Stamford. The hot sun beat down on their faces as they waited patiently without a word of complaint. Instead, their excitement grew palpably with every minute, and when they finally spotted one of their teachers emerging from the stairway, the group burst into cheers and waved posters wildly in the air!
Southeast Asia’s tallest hotel was the venue for the annual Swissôtel Vertical Marathon, which took place on 16 November 2008. For these five pupils from Park View Primary School, the event marked the culmination of weeks of hard work in a special fund-raising project they had initiated.
Learning Chinese - Going Beyond Grades in Pupil Assessment
December 9, 2008
Classroom discussions and projects now complement written tests for Chinese learning.
This is the ninth article in Schoolbag’s series of 10 features on the new primary school Chinese Language curriculum. Read the previous ones here.
An earlier version of this article was published in Lianhe Zaobao on 15 May 2007. For a Chinese version of this article, click here.
Mention “assessment” and pupils and parents alike will shudder at the thought of tests and examinations. Dreaded they may be, but exams remain vital tools to gauge the relative abilities of pupils. However, it’s also important to point out that written tests and examinations don’t provide the whole picture.
Learning is a continual process. Thus, instead of relying solely on formal exams, schools are increasingly turning to continual modes of assessment. Project work, learning portfolios, class reports or even classroom quizzes and group discussions complement written tests to give a more comprehensive view of pupils’ abilities. Pupils also get to display their strengths in different areas and feel less pressure from examinations.
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A Trail Where Knowledge Springs Forth
December 4, 2008
Learning about fish from a pond habitat on the Spring Trail.
At a bouldering wall, a pupil gingerly holds on to a rock piece as his other hand reaches out to grab a cardboard with a word splashed across it. It's a race against time - he has to collect the word cards and group them into themes to win points before the other team. His teammates look on and huddled together. "I know! I know! The theme should be 'People'!" whispered one pupil with irrepressible excitement.
The bouldering wall is just one of several activities that line the Spring Trail, a landscape of experiential structures at East Spring Primary School. Drawing inspiration from locations as diverse as the zoo to nature parks and the airport, the trail forms the heart of the school's Discovery Journey programme, in which pupils embark on action-filled outdoor learning adventures in the safety of the school's own backyard.
Baking Classes to Help a “Friend in Knead”
December 2, 2008
Students learn to bake while enjoying the support of their peers.
The homely aroma of freshly-baked pastries whiffs down the school corridor. Following the scent and peals of laughter, we arrive at a room where apron-clad boys and girls chat happily as they put the final touches to their tasty creations.
If you think this is a Home Economics class, you are in for a surprise. These students at Woodgrove Secondary School are in fact budding bakers in “A Friend in Knead” - an outreach programme that uses baking as a therapeutic tool to help students de-stress and build character.
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