This summer, the University Settlement Adult Literacy Program began a month-long Culture Club which met twice a week and not only studied English but also explored New York. One day was spent in the classroom learning relevant vocabulary and reading articles, and the second day was a field trip. Here’s a quick rundown up what we did:

√  Got an IDNYC

√  Studied NYC geography and learned how to use the subway system

√  Learned about Native Americans and the Lenape

√   Visited the National Museum of the American Indian

√   Learned art-related vocabulary and practiced describing paintings and sculptures in English

√   Visited the Metropolitan Museum of Art

√    Read about Chinese-American history

√    Visited the Museum of the Chinese in America

√   Studied vocabulary and read about gardening (This was in preparation for volunteering at the M’Finda Kalunga Community Garden but unfortunately we got rained out.)

√   Talked about and wrote about all of the places we visited and then typed up our writing on Microsoft Word

Here’s one student’s writing about one of our trips:

A Happy Day

Suman Li

Our teacher took us to visit the Metropolitan Museum of Art yesterday. The teacher said he would meet us on the front door steps at 10 A.M. so I got up early yesterday. I took the Manhattan-bound E train to 51st Street. Then I transferred to the uptown 6 train. I got off at 86th Street. When I arrived at the front steps, it was exactly 10 o’clock. We bought tickets and then went through security. First, we visited the Egyptian art. I visited the temple of Dendur. It is over two thousand years old. I was interested in the ancient Egyptian murals on the walls. I learned a lot of new things there. About half an hour later, the teacher led us to the roof garden. What a beautiful view! From that roof, I could overlook Central Park and the gorgeous New York City skyline. I also saw two sculptures on the roof. They were made from steel and stone and looked like 9 planes in the sky. Last, we returned to the second floor to visit exhibits from Europe and Asia. We left there at about 2 p.m. I was still very excited on the way home. It was really a happy day!