Hi, UP!
Scroll down for the reading about Thanksgiving, and answer the questions on the sheet I gave you in class.
If you lost the packet I gave you in class, here is a PDF:
| Thanksgiving Homework.pdf |
Part I: Thanksgiving
Use the reading to answer the questions on Page 1 of your Homework Hand-Out.
The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They first held a celebration of their harvest in 1621. The feast was organized by Governor Bradford who also invited a local native American tribe called the Wampanoag to join in the meal. The first time they called the feast "Thanksgiving" was in 1623, after rain had ended a long drought. There is a LOT more to this story, but we will learn about that a little later.
The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. However, it did not become a regular holiday in the United States until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year in the United States. The day was made an official federal holiday and moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Franklin Roosevelt.
Fun Facts About Thanksgiving
Part II: The Story of Thanksgiving and YOUR Thanksgiving
Read the article below and answer the prompt on page 2 of your Homework Hand-Out.
THE CELEBRATION
One day in the fall of the first Thanksgiving, four European settlers in the Americas were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war. Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men to see if the war rumor was true.
Soon after their visit, the Native Americans realized that the English were only hunting for the harvest celebration. Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. They played ball games, sang, and danced.
Although prayers and thanks were probably offered at the 1621 harvest gathering, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought (which means no rain).
Use the reading to answer the questions on Page 1 of your Homework Hand-Out.
The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They first held a celebration of their harvest in 1621. The feast was organized by Governor Bradford who also invited a local native American tribe called the Wampanoag to join in the meal. The first time they called the feast "Thanksgiving" was in 1623, after rain had ended a long drought. There is a LOT more to this story, but we will learn about that a little later.
The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. However, it did not become a regular holiday in the United States until 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year in the United States. The day was made an official federal holiday and moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Franklin Roosevelt.
Fun Facts About Thanksgiving
- Each year a live turkey is presented to the President of the United States who then "pardons" the turkey and it gets to live out its life on a farm.
- Around 46 million turkeys were eaten in the US on Thanksgiving in 2010. That's around one fifth of all the turkeys eaten for the entire year.
- Benjamin Franklin wanted the turkey to be the national bird instead of the bald eagle.
- Around 88 percent of Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving.
- The Pilgrims sailed to America from Great Britain on a ship called the Mayflower.
- The day after Thanksgiving is called Black Friday. It is the biggest shopping day of the year.
Part II: The Story of Thanksgiving and YOUR Thanksgiving
Read the article below and answer the prompt on page 2 of your Homework Hand-Out.
THE CELEBRATION
One day in the fall of the first Thanksgiving, four European settlers in the Americas were sent to hunt for food for a harvest celebration. The Wampanoag heard gunshots and alerted their leader, Massasoit, who thought the English might be preparing for war. Massasoit visited the English settlement with 90 of his men to see if the war rumor was true.
Soon after their visit, the Native Americans realized that the English were only hunting for the harvest celebration. Massasoit sent some of his own men to hunt deer for the feast and for three days, the English and native men, women, and children ate together. The meal consisted of deer, corn, shellfish, and roasted meat. They played ball games, sang, and danced.
Although prayers and thanks were probably offered at the 1621 harvest gathering, the first recorded religious Thanksgiving Day in Plymouth happened two years later in 1623. On this occasion, the colonists gave thanks to God for rain after a two-month drought (which means no rain).