Besides learning simple Kazakh greetings, the pupils are getting a creative workout as they prepare to introduce Singapore to their Kazakh counterparts next year. In fact, the entire school is geared up for the YOG one way or another. Tapping on its Media Literacy Programme, South View Primary is getting all its pupils involved in YOG-related projects that will develop both their ICT skills and their awareness of the cultures of visiting YOG athletes.

Multimedia literacy across disciplines

"This year, we want to introduce some aspects of YOG to every level," explains Mrs Lela Mazlan, South View Primary's Head of ICT, "So we thought we could do it through our Media Literacy Programme."

Held once a week in one-hour sessions, the Media Literacy Programme aims to equip all pupils with specific sets of IT skills throughout their six years of primary education. Armed with various IT and multimedia tools, the pupils then carry out Interdisciplinary Project Work (IPW) that combines subjects like English, Math, Science and National Education.

It's quite a mouthful, but IPW has helped the pupils to literally go out and smell the flowers. Pri 2 pupils, for instance, have made trips to the Orchid Garden, where they learnt about orchid hybrids created specially for visiting foreign First Ladies and Princesses. Math skills and the ability to connect the logical dots come into play when they draw up a spreadsheet and charts to illustrate their findings.

Integrating IT skills with YOG

As the Pri 1 pupils pick up Kazakh words and phrases like "Hello!", "Good Morning" and "Thank You", they are using this new-found knowledge to design animated multimedia presentations. According to Mrs Mazlan, the pupils were previously taught only to do up presentations without sound, but this year's batch were so enthusiastic they have managed to put together a package complete with audio.

Meanwhile, Pri 2 pupils are stretching their mental agility as they draw upon their visits to the Orchid Garden to come up with computer-generated orchid hybrids for the First Lady of Kazakhstan. To spice up the task and motivate the pupils, the best digital orchid design will be chosen and a 3-D model of the winning hybrid slated for display at a booth in the YOG Village.

Their seniors in Pri 5 are discovering that mastery of IT skills isn't enough to make a project successful. Teamwork and empowerment also come into play as they learn to research, script write, act, direct and film their very own video productions. The pupils plan to shoot short documentaries about Kazakhstan to introduce the country, its culture and places of interest to fellow Singaporeans.

All this action in the run-up to the YOG certainly has gotten the pupils excited. "I like the e-animation programme and enjoy typing in the text in the slides," enthuses Nur Asyura Bte Nor Hamli. "I also learnt to speak clearly and loudly during the voice recording," adds the Pri 1 pupil.

And fellow Pri 1 schoolmate, Kieran Neo, chirps, "I learnt how to say "Good Morning" and "Thank You" in Kazakh!" And if you are wondering what that sounds like, it's Qayirly Tan! and Rakhmet. See if you can remember that!