Schools innovate to engage pupils
Evergreen Primary holds That's Great It's Friday, Angsana has Tinker Tuesdays
For some pupils of Evergreen Primary School, the kampung game of marbles in sand was less of a surprise than seeing the sand.
The simplified version of permainan guli involves two players. Each player has one marble, which he uses to hit a group of marbles arranged in a circle.
The game ends when all the marbles in the circle have been claimed, with the player who claimed the most marbles declared the winner.
"Kids are not exposed to such games nowadays because of their gadgets," Malay language teacher Elyyah Kamsin, 39, told The New Paper.
"I remember pupils being fascinated with the sand and asking whether this is real sand."
Preparations for this game - alongside other traditional games that are part of the line-up for the July 6 edition of That's Great It's Friday (TGIF) - started in May.
Launched in January this year, TGIF is an Innovative Programme offered by Evergreen Primary.
ONE HOUR
Every Friday, all pupils have an hour-long break, which includes recess and TGIF.
The planning for the July 6 edition was led by a team of six teachers from the school's mother tongue department. They came up with using traditional games to spark interest in the learning of mother tongue languages.
In addition to bringing in sand from a nursery, teachers re-created some games that are no longer widely available here.
TGIF provided Aaradhana Pandipperumal with a chance for cross-cultural learning.
The Primary 6 girl took part in an activity where the pupils folded paper boats and put them in water. This was inspired by a practice in ancient China, when commoners would send well wishes to their loved ones in the form of paper boats sailing across a river.
"I knew about Japanese origami, but I did not know the Chinese made paper boats as well," she said.
Meanwhile, in Angsana Primary School last week, pupils used a Caesar cipher and decoded a message, which said: "Problem solving is fun".
The device consists of two different wheels, which can be used to encrypt or decrypt a code. A keyword was given to the pupils to align the two wheels.
This was part of Tinker Tuesdays, a platform for the pupils of Angsana Primary to explore new concepts.
It is one of the curriculum highlights of the school's Applied Learning Programme, which seeks to nurture problem-solvers by equipping them with computational thinking skills.
Every Tuesday, there are two sessions: One for Primary 1, 3, and 5 pupils from noon to 12.30pm, and another for Primary 2, 4, and 6 pupils from 12.30pm to 1pm.
Responses to Tinker Tuesdays, which was launched in April, have been highly positive.
Jarren Tan, a Primary 5 pupil, said: "I love Tinker Tuesdays. I would even eat more during recess, so that I have time to play during lunch."
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