Today is Thanksgiving.

The Pilgrims arrived on Plymouth Rock on December 11th, 1620, carried by their ship, the Mayflower. The first winter was devastating for them. It was cold, they lacked adequate shelter and food and they were stricken with pneumonia and tuberculosis. By spring, they had lost 46 of the original 102 who had sailed aboard the Mayflower. The next year, an English-speaking member of the nearby Wampanoag nation named Squanto came to the Pilgrims’ assistance. He first brought them food and skins, and then began the process of teaching them survival skills, such as how to cultivate New World vegetables, how to build effective shelters, how to use certain local plants for medicines and other vital skills.

That year’s harvest, the harvest of 1621, was plentiful. The leader of the settlers asked Squanto and Massasoit, the leader of the Wampanoags, to bring their immediate families to a feast, one in which they could enjoy the bounty of their harvest and give thanks for their good fortune. Though the setters were surprised when they returned with 90 relatives, the feast proceeded, and it lasted for three days. In between meals, the settlers and the Wampanoags went hunting and engaged in contests of skill and strength. The feast is believed to have included lobster, roasted goose, turkey, rabbit, Indian corn-meal pudding, roasted duck, stewed pumpkin, hominy pudding, roasted venison and cheese.

President George Washington proclaimed a National Day of Thanksgiving for November 26, 1789 to celebrate and give thanks for the successful formation of the United States government. However, Thanksgiving failed to catch on as a yearly national holiday. It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation that the holiday became a regular tradition.

ReadWriteThink
Behind every myth are many possible truths allowing us to discover who we were as peoples and who we are today. By exploring Myth and Truth: The "First Thanksgiving" (6-8), students learn to think critically about commonly believed myths regarding the Wampanoag Indians in colonial America.

In Packing the Pilgrim’s Trunk: Personalizing History in the Elementary Classroom (K-2), students investigate the Pilgrims—who they were and why they came to America. Through a series of activities designed to help students relate their lives to the lives of Pilgrim children, students explore the concept of moving. They read about the Mayflower Pilgrims' travels and compare life today with life during the time of the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag.

EconEdLink
How does your family celebrate Thanksgiving? Are you joined by friends and/or family for a special feast? What do you eat? Most American families celebrate Thanksgiving by cooking turkey. According to www.butterball.com, 90 percent of U.S. households eat turkey on Thanksgiving and 50 percent eat turkey on Christmas day. In the lesson plan Let's Talk Turkey: The Cost of Thanksgiving Dinner (9-12), students explore these and other concepts.