Rippowam Cisqua Students Visit Chinatown

On Thursday, November 14th, Rippowam Cisqua School's sixth grade students visited Chinatown. The below article comes to us from Rippowam Cisqua alum and sixth grade Humanities and Language Arts teacher Louisa Polos.

The RCS sixth graders boarded two buses and headed for Chinatown this past Thursday morning. The sixth grade is currently studying ancient China. In addition, the students are reading the Newbery Honor book Dragonwings by Lawrence Yep. This book tells the story of a young Chinese boy’s immigrant experience in the United States in the early 1900s. The students were looking forward to visiting Chinatown and building on their newly acquired knowledge!

Our first stop was the Museum of Chinese in America. The students split into small groups when we arrived at the museum. Each group was charged with going on a journey through the museum, guided by items in a box of primary sources which document Chinese American history including letters, artifacts, and photographs.  Students in each group used the materials in their box to learn more about a particular person or subject. The students then presented their findings to the larger group. They learned a lot about the Chinese immigrant experience and were able to make connections to the content they are learning in class.

The sixth grade finished their day in Chinatown by enjoying an authentic Chinese lunch. Students filled the restaurant and sat at many tables. They were served a variety of Chinese dishes which they enjoyed eating with their peers. It was a wonderful opportunity to try many new things and a time to reflect on the day’s activities. After lunch, the sixth graders piled into the buses and headed back to Bedford. The group represented RCS well and had an enriching experience along the way!