LAST REMINDER TO SUBMIT PORTFOLIO DRAFTS

I have not received drafts (either one or both) from the following pupils:

5K: Index Numbers - 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24 & 25

5L: Index Numbers - 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 21, 23

5M: Index Numbers - 3, 7, 13, 15, 16, 20, 23

5N: Index Numbers - 1, 10, 16, 19, 24

Each pupil has to submit 2 drafts, one for each entry. For those of you who have not submitted your drafts, you will have to email your drafts to Mr Sapiee as soon as possible. His email address is sapiee.sabar@gmail.com. He is marking your drafts so please email him if you have any queries.

Thank you!

To all my pupils (past & present),

Thank you from the bottom of my heart! I had an amazing last day with all of you today. The effort that you put into making and buying me farewell gifts really touched me. I will treasure the cards and notes you have written and the notepads I received will serve as nice reminders of my time in teaching as I take notes as a student in Australia. The beautiful gifts will certainly brighten up my new place down under.

For the class of ‘08 who came by to say hi and bye this afternoon, thank you for the lovely flowers. Also, thanks to those from ’07 who wished me a safe trip to Australia.

To my CCA pupils: Thank you for the very sweet cards and surprise gifts. I had a great time at the party with you this afternoon.

I will still be in NYPS until the end of next week, attending meetings and clearing my desk so you are welcome to visit me.

As for those of you who will be at Ms Chan’s big day, I will see you there.

Thank you for the memories.

I will miss all of you.

Mrs Dhillon a.k.a Ms Phua

PS: I will be converting this Social Studies blog into a personal blog so that I can keep in touch with all of you so do check for updates :)

Urgent Reminder to Submit Portfolio drafts by Friday, 29 May

I have not received drafts (either one or both) from the following pupils:

5K: Index Numbers - 2, 5, 6, 10, 13, 14, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24 & 25

5L: Index Numbers - 8, 10, 13, 14, 15, 17, 21, 23

5M: Index Numbers - 3, 7, 10, 13, 15, 16, 20, 23

5N: Index Numbers - 1, 8, 10, 16, 19, 24

The drafts MUST be submitted by Friday, 29 May 2009.

The Arrival of a New Teacher

Dear parents and pupils,

I made an important announcement yesterday to the 4 classes. I will be leaving NYPS and Singapore for Australia to pursue further studies so Friday, 29 May 2009 will be my last day teaching in NYPS.

A permanent teacher will be taking my place as the P5 GEP Social Studies teacher and the pupils met him yesterday. His name is Mr Sapiee and he will be teaching the classes from Term 3 onwards.

I have enjoyed teaching all 101 of you.

Keep in touch!

Mrs Dhillon

Parents' Signature

All the common test papers have been returned so this is a reminder to get your parents to sign your test papers. I will be checking for signatures next week.

Pupils are reminded to bring printed copies of their portoflio to class.

Many pupils forgot to bring hard copies of their portfolio to class today, this resulted in an ineffective use of time. Please print out your portfolio so that you can work on it in class.

Results of RAFT Project & P5 Social Studies Common Test

Dear parents,

Your child received the results of his/her RAFT project last week. The baseline of the project is 70% which equates to 28 out of 40.

As for the Common Test, the papers will only be returned at the end of next week (Week 9). The baseline is once again 70% which is 17.5 out of 25.

Weeks 8–10: Portfolio & The Last Topic of Term 2

Portfolio Drafts:
The portfolio drafts will be due on the 28th of May 2009. All pupils are required to submit the drafts for both the portfolio entries. Drafts reflections are not compulsory but may be submitted if you wish to do so.

Do note that each entry comprises of an artifact, a commentary and a reflection.

Example of a self-created piece:
Artifact - Biopoem
Commentary - Write-up (Template available on LEAD)

Example of a self-selected piece:
Artifact - Article from a newspaper
Commentary - Review (Template available LEAD)

There are other templates available on LEAD as well.

Pupils are advised to bring both a hard & soft copy of their drafts so that they can work on them in class. Hard copies are necessary should the computer labs be unavailable.

The Last Topic of the Term: Citizenship & Leadership
This topic will explore responsibilities of a good leader and citizen. It will also look at the selection process; voting, elections etc and how the citizens can select good leaders. There are no readings to refer to at this point but notes will be provided during lessons.

Common Test: 12 May 2009

Week 7: Revision

The lessons will focus on revision this week. We may miss some lessons as the world we live in is an unpredictable one but not to worry because I have printed revision notes for all of you. If there is insufficient time to go through the slides in class, you should read them on your own. Remember that learning is your responsibility and you can’t expect others to do the learning for you.

What will I go through during lessons?
I will be showing you samples of past year questions and teaching you how to answer them appropriately. This means I will teach you how to read and analyze questions and also how to focus your answers on the main point/s of the questions.

Announcement for 5L:
Most of our lessons will be taken up by various tests this week. Thus, in order to solve our problem I would like you to stay in class during recess on Wednesday for a short Social Studies lesson. Please pack a small snack for recess on Wednesday; preferably something that is easy to eat as I will allow you to eat during the lesson and it will be difficult for you to take notes if you have your hands full.

Filing

The content page for Term 1 was issued last term. As for Term 2, the worksheets should be filed as follows. The complete content page will be distributed at the end of Term 2. However, pupils should start filing their work so that they have a complete set of revision notes to refer to while studying for the common test.

The files will be collected for file check after the common test. The Social Studies file should be a black ring file.

2009 Term 1

Personal Profile
Newspaper Article Review
Life After WWII: Pre-Lesson Exercise
Life After WWII Notes
Life After WWII Mind Map
Explanation & Background of Socialism and Communism Notes
The Communist Threat in Singapore Notes
Glossary: Merger & Separation
Merger Worksheet
Singapore in the 1940s & 1950s
Poem on Chief Ministers (Instructions)
Instant Biography Poem / Biopoem on Chief Ministers
Singapore’s 2 Chief Ministers – Source Sheet
Reasons For & Against Merger Notes
Towards Merger: Reasons For & Against Worksheet
Breakdown of Marks for Assessment 2009
Portfolio Assessment in Social Studies
Social Studies Portfolio Timeline 2009
Portfolio Assessment Rubric (Pupil Version)
Portfolio Reflection (Template)
RAFT Activity: Instructions & Rubrics

2009 Term 2

RAFT Draft
Singapore National Referendum, 1st September 1962 Notes
Generalisations: Conflict & Conflict Resolution
Reasons for Separation Notes
What led to separation?
Reasoning Web: Separation
RAFT Final
Challenges Following Separation
Scope for P5 Social Studies Common Test
How did Singapore achieve independence?
Life After The War

Scope for Common Test: 12 May 2009

The scope for the common test was issued to the pupils today.

The following topics will be tested:

Problems after WWII (from mid 1940’s)
1. Challenges faced by Singapore after WWII (eg public utilities, food and housing)
2. Measures taken by the government and people to deal with challenges


Merger and Separation
1. Towards self-government, 1950’s (eg Chief Ministers of Singapore)
2. Reasons for Singapore wanting a merger
3. Reasons for Malaya’s initial reluctance for a merger
4. Reasons for Malaya’s eventual decision for a merger
5. Reasons for Brunei’s refusal to join Malaysia
6. Steps taken for Sabah and Sarawak’s inclusion in the federation
7. The referendum in Singapore (eg purpose, stand of various parties, results)
8. Reasons leading to separation


Challenges after Independence
1. Challenges faced by Singapore after 1965 (eg education, defence)
2. Measures taken to deal with the challenges
3. Singapore’s continuing links with Malaysia

Urgent Reminder: RAFT Assignment

The following pupils have yet to hand in their RAFT Assignment. The assignment is worth 50% of your SA1 grade and late submissions will be penalized.

5K: Index No. 19

5L: Index Nos. 2 & 21

5M: Index Nos. 6 & 13

5N: Index Nos. 2 & 10

A hard copy of your RAFT must be submitted by 1:30pm, Wednesday, 22nd April 2009 as I will not be around for the rest of the week.

Please call your friends to remind them to submit their RAFT assignments.

RAFT Advice

Option 1 - Speech (Before 1 September 1962)
Purpose: To convince the people in Singapore to vote for merger.
Content: Focus on benefits of merger for Singapore only.
Flow of Speech: Introduction -> Economic Benefits -> Political Benefits -> Social Benefits -> Conclusion

Option 2 - Newspaper Article (Before 16 September 1963)
Purpose: To discuss the pros (advantages) and cons (disadvantages) of merger for Singapore.
Content: Focus on advantages and disadvantages of merger for Singapore only.
Flow of Newspaper Article: Introduction ->Economic Benefits -> Political Benefits -> Social Benefits -> Economic Disadvantages -> Political Disadvantages -> Social Disadvantages -> Conclusion
*The final product must look like a newspaper article.

Option 3 - Leaflet (Before 16 September 1963)
Purpose: To inform the people about the advantages of merger for Malaya.
Content: Focus on the advantages of merger for Malaya only.
Flow of Leaflet: General Information about Merger -> Economic Benefits -> Political Benefits -> Social Benefits -> Short Conclusion
*The leaflet must have accompanying pictures/photographs with captions.


The final copy of your RAFTs are due on Monday, 20th April. I have marked your drafts and gone through the common mistakes as well as the recommended format during my lessons so please make the necessary changes and see me before Friday if you need to.

Work hard over the next few days to produce a good piece of work that you can be proud of!

Reminder to bring soft copies

Announcements have been made to bring soft copies of your RAFT assignment for your Social Studies lessons next week. This is very important as lessons will be conducted in the computer lab and I will be meeting with you individually or in small groups to discuss your assignment. If you do not bring a soft copy of your work, you will not benefit from the time and attention given to you during the consultation session.

What are we doing?

It is Term 2, Week 3 and we are coming to the end of the topic on Merger & Separation. The lessons have been covering reasons for separation and a food for thought question would be, “Was separation inevitable?”.

We will be moving on to challenges that Singapore faced after separation and then we will kick into revision mode (revision notes and practice questions).

I understand the concern that the parents have about the common test after meeting a number of them over the past 2 days so if you are wondering how to help your child, there are a few ways in which you can do so.

1) Ensure that he/she is filing the worksheets and notes given. The content page for Term 1 has been distributed so there is a reference point.

2) As we all know, there is no textbook for GEP Social Studies. However, if you are at a loss as to how to help your child, the mainstream 5B textbook (Interacting With Our World: Building The Nation) may help you to understand what your child is learning during the lessons so you will be better equipped to guide him/her.

Outstanding (Not in the good way) Homework

Biopoem – 5K (Index Numbers: 16, 19), 5L (Index Numbers: 8, 17, 21, 23), 5M (Index Numbers: 13, 15), 5N (Index Numbers: 12, 19, 25)

Please print out a copy of your biopoem and leave it on my desk. I will no longer be accepting soft copies.

RAFT Draft – 5L (Index Numbers: 10, 17), 5M (Index Number: 13), 5N (Index Number 24)

Emails

Many of you are sending emails to the wrong email address. Please check that the email address you are typing in ends with @nyps.edu.sg.

Also, please include your name and class in the email and if you are sending me attachments do explain what they are for. This will make it easier for me to identify and understand your email.

Thank you.

RAFT

Today is the 6th of April and I have yet to receive all the RAFT drafts even though they were due on the 23rd of March.

5K - Excellent Job! Everyone has handed in their drafts.

5L - 5 of your classmates have not handed in their drafts. That's 20% of the class! What's going on? Please call your classmates to remind them to hand in their drafts. They are index number 10, 17, 18, 21 and 23.

5M - 1 draft is still missing in action and it belongs to index number 13.

5N - Index number 24 has yet to hand in his draft. Please call him to remind him to do so!

As you know, your RAFTs are due on the 20th of April and that's in 2 weeks time. Drafts are an important step in producing quality work so if you wish to do well, you must take part in the draft process. I will be using my lessons next week to help you with your RAFT assignment so please bring a soft copy of your RAFT with you the whole of next week (Week 4).

Man Survived 2 Atomic Bombs

Fri, Mar 27, 2009
AFP

TOKYO - Japan has certified a 93-year-old man as the first known survivor of both US atomic bombings in World War II, in the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki.

Tsutomu Yamaguchi was in Hiroshima when an American plane dropped an atomic bomb on August 6, 1945. He survived with serious burns and returned to his hometown of Nagasaki, where the second bomb was dropped three days later.

Yamaguchi had already been certified a "hibakusha" or radiation survivor of the Nagasaki bombing but was officially confirmed this week as having lived through Hiroshima too.

"I just wanted to clarify the horror only a double atomic bomb survivor could understand," Yamaguchi told reporters. "I hope to hand over the horror of atomic bombs and the importance of peace to our next generations." --AFP

Article Taken from Asiaone.com

Uploads

Please log into Lead.com to download the templates which you require for your portfolio.

I have uploaded 4 templates:

1) Reflection (Everyone has to download this as it is a compulsory component.)
2) Newspaper Article Review – Webbing (We did this in class.)
3) Newspaper Article Review (This format is different from what we have covered in class.)
4) Movie Review
5) Biopoem (This includes the discussion points for the commentary section.)

Please start working on your portfolio entries.

Learning more about Chinatown!

I was delighted to hear that most of you had a great time at Chinatown on Tuesday and that you really enjoyed the trip. The fieldtrip did not include a visit to the Chinatown Heritage Centre which will actually give you greater insight into Chinatown’s history. So if you are interested to know more about Chinatown do ask your parents to take you there during the weekend or on one of the upcoming public holidays.

Remember that the fieldtrip can be used as inspiration for a portfolio entry. You can produce a self-created entry by making a photo journal or writing a journal entry about Chinatown.


Here are some websites for you to find out more about the Chinatown Heritage Centre:

http://www.chinatownheritage.com.sg/

http://www.visitsingapore.com/publish/stbportal/en/home/what_to_see/ethnic_quarters/chinatown/chinatown_heritage.html

Bon Voyage!

Dear all,

I will be flying to Shanghai tomorrow, 10th of March 2009 for the Shanghai Immersion Programme and I will only be back on the 18th of March 2009. Hence if you have any burning questions regarding your portfolio and/or your RAFT please email me and I will get back to you after the 18th.

In the meantime, use the time you have to work on drafts of your portfolio entries and your RAFT.

Mrs Dhillon :)

Portfolio & RAFT Project

Reminders:
1) Parents’ signatures are required on the portfolio briefing sheets.
2) A draft of your RAFT is due on 23rd of March 2009.
3) We are going to Chinatown on Tuesday 24th of March 2009.

RAFT Drafts:
1) It is compulsory to submit a draft.
2) Organize your points clearly; according to categories such as political, economic and social.
3) Elaborate by providing explanations and examples.
4) Check the accuracy of the dates and events mentioned in your work.

Portfolio:
1) It is compulsory to submit a draft.
2) Choose entries that are not too time-consuming.
3) Interest is important. Do not choose topics that bore you.
4) Work towards your strengths; if you are good at writing, write, if you are good at drawing, draw.
5) I will be explaining how to convert your biopoems and your newspaper article reviews into portfolio entries when school re-opens.

Learning Journey: Chinatown

Photo taken from, http://www.visitsingapore.com/

The details of the trip are as such:
Date: Tuesday, 24/03/09 (Term 2, Week 1)
Time: 2pm to 5pm
Assembly Point: Meeting Point at 1:55pm

Things To Note:
1) School bags are to be placed outside the library after school.
2) A small bag can be brought along for the trip. The bag must contain writing materials and a bottle of water.
3) The pick-up point will be the NYPS Meeting Point.

The consent forms will have to be returned on Tuesday, 2nd of March 2009.

Photos From the "Animal Farm" Screening

Singapore: Politics in the 1940s & 1950s

Table from, "Singapore From Settlement to Nation: Pre-1819 to 1971"

Suggested Reading:

Interacting With Our World: Building the Nation 5B Chapter 1 & Chapter 2: (Pages 12 to 13, 16 to 21, 25 to 33)

Mergers: Examples & Non-Examples

Examples of Mergers:

1. European Union (EU) - http://europa.eu/abc/index_en.htm



2. United States of America (USA) - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States



3. United Arab Emirates (UAE) - The United Arab Emirates is a federation of 7 emirates; Abu Dhabi, Dubai, Sharjah, Ajman, Umm al-Qaiwain, Ras al-Khaimah and Fujairah. The federation was formally established on 2 December 1971.



Non-Examples of Mergers:

1. Association of Southeast Asian Nation (ASEAN) - http://www.aseansec.org/



2. United Nations (UN) - http://www.un.org/english/

Map of South-East Asia

Click on the map to view a larger version.

The Merger in 1963 was a merger between Singapore, Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak. These territories merged to form Malaysia. However, the name remained unchanged when Singapore left the merger in 1965.

Major Topic: Merger & Separation

Week 7 marks our first foray into the major topic of the semester "Merger & Separation", namely the bittersweet history between Singapore and Malaysia.

5K's Questions on Merger & Separation

Merger:
1) Why did Singapore decide to merge with Malaysia in the first place?
2) Why did Malaysia get its independence but not Singapore?
3) Were the Singaporeans agreeable to the merge?
4) Will Singapore benefit from the merge?
5) Why did Singapore want to become independent?

Separation:
6) Why was it a sad thing that Malaysia and Singapore separated?
7) Why was Singapore kicked out of Malaysia?
8) How did Singapore react after it was kicked out by Malaysia?

Post-Separation:
9) Why did Singapore decide to become independent only after it was kicked out?
10) Did Lee Kuan Yew have any upcoming plans for the future?

Miscellaneous:
11) What is merger?
12) Why was Lee Kuan Yew moved to tears?

5L's Questions on Merger & Separation

Merger:
1. Why didn’t merger work for Singapore?
2. Why did we merge in the first place?
3. What is merger?
4. Who created the idea of merger?
5. Why was it considered a merger instead of a single territory?
6. Why did the people agree to merger?

Separation:
7. Why did we have to separate?
8. Why did we not separate earlier?
9. What is separation?

Others:
10. Why was Lee Kuan Yew moved to tears?
11. What are the effects of merger and separation?
12. Why were the people not calm?
13. How are we related economically and through family ties?
14. Why did PM Lee believe in the merging of the 2 countries at first?
15. Why did Mr Lee want to give this statement to others?
16. Why did Lee Kuan Yew want to stop talking?
17. Why did Lee Kuan Yew cry?
18. What are the pros and cons of merging and separation?

5M's Questions on Merger & Separation

Merger:
1. What does merger mean?
2. Why did Singapore want to merge to form Malaysia in the first place?
3. Why couldn’t Singapore merge to form Malaysia?
4. How did the public react towards the merger?
5. Why did Lee Kuan Yew believe in the merger all his adult life?
6. What were the effects of the merger?

Separation:
7. Why did Singapore want to separate from Malaysia?
8. What were the main causes of separation?
9. Why did Lee Kuan Yew ask the people to remain calm after separation?
10. How did the people react to the separation?
11. What were the effects of the separation on Singapore?

Others:
12. Why was Lee Kuan Yew so touched that he cried?
13. Why did Lee Kuan Yew suddenly decide on separation?
14. What did Lee Kuan Yew mean when he said Singapore and Malaysia were related by ties of kinship?

5N's Questions on Merger & Separation

Merger:
1. What is Merger?
2. Why didn’t the Merger work?
3. What events led to merger?
4. Who did Singapore want to merge with?
5. Did Lee Kuan Yew believe he could govern these two merging territories?
6. What were the conditions of the merger?
7. Was merger good or bad?
8. Why did Lee Kuan Yew think that merger was important?
9. Did all Singaporeans support merger?

Separation:
10. Why did Singapore separate from Malaysia?
11. What events occurred during separation?
12. What is separation?
13. Did Lee Kuan Yew have any doubts as to the result of the separation?

Others:
14. Why did Lee Kuan Yew cry?
15. What is kinship?
16. Why did Lee Kuan Yew decide that separation was the right option for Singapore, a still recovering state?
17. Who was Lee Kuan Yew's audience?

These questions will be answered as we learn more about Singapore's merger with Malaya, Sabah and Sarawak.

Week 6: Communism and The Communists in Singapore

Suggested Reading:

1. Interacting With Our World: Singapore Under Foreign Rule 5A – Chapter 5: Life After The War (Pages 77 to 79)

2. Interacting With Our World: Building the Nation 5B – Chapter 2: Singapore’s Journey to Self-Government (Pages 22 to 24)

Screening of “Animal Farm (1954)”

The pupils will be learning about Communism this week and this will bring them into the era of strikes, riots and the Emergency in Singapore.

As such, I will be screening the movie "Animal Farm (1954)" to give the pupils a better idea of what Communism is.

The details of the screening are as such:
Date: Thursday, 12/02/09
Time: 2:15pm to 3:30pm
Venue: 5M

The screening will be followed by a discussion.

The consent forms have been distributed to the 4 classes and they have to be returned to me by Wednesday, 11/02/09. Pupils who do not hand in their forms will not be able to attend the screening.

What happens if you can't attend the screening?
I will try my best to arrange an alternative date. However, if this is not possible then you will have to read the book; Animal Farm by George Orwell.

Food For Thought Puzzle

Some of you requested for this to be posted on the blog so here goes :)

The Puzzle
Six married couples had agreed to meet and have a meal together at a local restaurant. They were Tom and Jane, Peter and Christine, Mark and Susan, Andrew and Elizabeth, Fred and Vera, and Roger and Kerry. Roger was delayed by a problem at work and he did not arrive until the others had ordered their meals.

On that day, there were twelve dishes on the menu and, amazingly, each of the eleven people present chose a different meal. They decided to order the odd one out for Roger, believing that he would be happy with the choice.

To tease him for his lateness, the others said that Roger must pass the meals to the correct people without being told directly what they had chosen. To help Roger, they gave him clues. Roger himself made it clear that he favoured a meat dish but he did not want anything cooked ‘exotically’.

Based on the clues given and the description of each dish, can you work out which meal each person had and can you say whether Roger was pleased with what had been ordered for him?

The Menu:
1. Trout Vin Rouge - Trout cooked with mushrooms, herbs and red wine.
2. Mixed Grill - Chopped pieces of steak, liver, bacon, sausages, tomato and mushrooms.
3. Madras Curry - A very hot curry with a great deal of seasoning.
4. Roast Beef and Yorkshire Pudding - A traditional English meal.
5. Coq Au Vin - Chicken cooked in red wine.
6. Spanish Omelette - An omelette (egg dish) containing potatoes, peas, tomato and onion.
7. Salerno Fish - An Italian dish using cod with a sauce made from white wine, garlic and chives.
8. Lamb Kebabs - Pieces of lamb, tomato, mushrooms, onions and bacon served on skewers or a bed of rice.
9. Roast Pork - Served with roast potatoes, green vegetables and apple sauce.
10. Malaysian Hotpot - Neck of mutton cooked in a casserole with mushrooms, onions and potatoes.
11. Spaghetti Bolognese - Spaghetti with traditional Italian meat sauce and served with a sprinkling of grated cheese.
12. Paella - A famous Spanish dish consisting of chicken, lobster, shellfish, onions, peppers and rice.

The clues given to Roger:
1. The two dishes from Italy were chosen by the only two people whose names contain the initial letter of that country.
2. Peter's wife does not like fish.
3. The person whose initial comes first in the alphabet had a dish cooked in red wine.
4. The person with the shortest name said that he came from Perak and that he would support his home country.
5. The person whose name contains a consonant used twice consecutively, chose a dish with that same double consonant.
6. Mark's wife is a vegetarian.
7. The person whose name contains one vowel selected a dish which is a rival to Tom's meal.
8. Mark chose a fish dish.
9. Fred's wife wanted a meal that contains rice or is served with it.
10. Jane's religion forbade her to eat any part of a pig.
11. The husband of the lady eating Spaghetti Bolognese chose a meat whose initial was the same as in his name.

First Topic of 2009

Week 5 & 6: Life after WWII

The 4 classes will be learning about life in Singapore after WWII, through slides, videos and readings.

This topic is a bridge that links what you have learnt last year to what you will be learning this year because it is a continuation from WWII and the Japanese Occupation. You will be learning about the post-war situation; the problems, the administration and the attitudes of the people.

Suggested Reading:

1. Interacting With Our World: Singapore Under Foreign Rule 5A – Chapter 5: Life After The War (Pages 62 to 76)

It will be important for you to be able to differentiate between the problems faced by the people during the war and the problems faced by the people after the war. Do not mix them up as they had different causes, effects and solutions.

Lunar New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!



Here are some Chinese New Year customs to share with you:

1) Spring Cleaning - Homes should be cleaned before New Year's Day because sweeping or dusting should not be done on New Year's Day as good luck will be swept away.

2) Refrain from using sharp objects - Knives or scissors should not be used on New Year's Day as this may cut off good fortune. So remember to put away all sharp objects!

E-Learning Task

Dear 5K, 5L, 5M & 5N,

I hope you enjoyed the 3 days at your P5 Camp. I am very proud of you for being so resilient.

However, many things happened while you were away having fun abseiling and rock wall climbing so your Social Studies task for the 2 days of e-learning is to catch up on current affairs by reading the news on online news websites.

You can do so via these two websites:

http://www.asiaone.com/

or

http://news.bbc.co.uk/

Happy reading!

Gaza prompts boycott in Malaysia

The removal of Coca-Cola from thousands of restaurants in Malaysia in protest at US support for Israel will hurt the local economy, the company has said.

The drinks company was responding to boycotts of US-made goods called by Muslim groups in Malaysia.

Malaysia has called at the United Nations for action to stop the Israeli offensive in Gaza.

Former leader Mahathir Mohamad has also called for a global boycott of the US dollar and US products.

"As everybody else, we are deeply touched by the human side of the situation in the Middle East," Kadri Taib, Coca-Cola Malaysia public affairs and communications director, said in a statement.

"Given the local nature of our business, we believe that calls for boycotts of our products are not the appropriate way to further any causes, as they primarily hurt the local economy, local businesses and local citizens," the company said.

It added that the beverage company employs some 1,700 Malaysians, 60% of whom are Malay Muslims.

Muslim protest

The boycott, aimed at US support of Israel which has mounted the offensive in Gaza, is spearheaded by the Malaysian Islamic Consumers Association as well as the Muslim Restaurant Operators Association. If you stop accepting US currency, the US can't trade and can't make any money, it will become very poor and it will have to stop the production of more and more weapons in order to kill people. People must act... they won't die if they don't drink Coca-Cola

Dr Mahathir Mohamad, former Malaysian prime minister

More than 2,000 Muslim restaurants in Malaysia have said they would remove Coca-Cola from their menus from Friday.

Ma'mor Osman, secretary-general of the Malaysian Muslim Consumers Association which is leading the campaign, said about 100 other products have been identified, ranging from food to beauty and clothing such as Starbucks, Colgate, McDonald's and Maybelline.

A boycott is the best way for us to protest Zionist cruelty against the Palestinian people as consumers can weaken the economy of countries like Israel and its ally, the US," he said.

Leadership support

Former Malaysian Prime Minister Dr Mahathir had earlier called for a boycott of US currency and goods.

"If you stop accepting US currency, the US can't trade and can't make any money, it will become very poor and it will have to stop the production of more and more weapons in order to kill people," he said on Monday.

"We should not be buying all these weapons from the US, we can buy from the Russians if we must have aeroplanes and things like that," he added.

"People must act... they won't die if they don't drink Coca-Cola," he said.

"We urge everybody who loves peace and is against war to support our campaign. We must send a clear signal to Israel to stop the assaults in Gaza," he said.

Malaysia's current Prime Minister Abdullah Badawi has called for sanctions on Israel, saying the international community has a "moral duty" to save the Palestinian people.

He said that Israel's "excessive deployment of military power" in its air and ground offensive on Gaza since 27 December was "absolutely immoral".

In the conflict, so far 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis have been killed, with thousands wounded.

Article from BBC News, http://news.bbc.co.uk/

The School Calendar

Just for your reference...

Newspaper Article Reviews

Week 2: The classes are working on newspaper article reviews

1. Choose an article that has sufficient details for you to start a discussion, preferably one which features a problem or an important issue. For example, natural disasters, wars, crimes etc.

2. It is important to choose an article that captures your interest because you will need to spend a lot of time analysing the article.

3. Choose an article which talks about things that you know about. There is no point selecting an article about nuclear physics if you do not know anything about the topic. You will end up spending too much time trying to research on the topic to understand the article fully.

4. Share your thoughts on the article. Do you feel strongly about the issue? Why? What is your stand on the issue/problem? What would you have done if you were in that situation?

Don't...

1. Measure the quality of your reflection according to the number of words or the length of your writing.

Welcome to the P5 Social Studies blog!

Hi parents and pupils, welcome to the Social Studies blog! I'm hoping that we can use this as a platform of communication within our NYPS community of parents, teachers and pupils.

I'm Mrs Stephanie Dhillon and I'm will be teaching 5K, 5L, 5M & 5N Social Studies this year.

I've had my first lessons with 5M & 5N so far and I will be meeting 5K & 5L soon.

Just some information for parents:
Your child has been asked to bring a set of newspapers for my Social Studies lessons next week. Any English medium newspaper will do but as we will be hunting for newspaper articles, the Classifieds section will not be suitable.

Some advice to pupils:
If you want to lighten your school bag load, bring the Today paper as it is generally thinner and has a variety of articles that we will be able to tap on for the lessons.