The document summarizes the story of the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims in Plymouth colony in 1621. It describes how the Puritan Pilgrims fled religious persecution in England and traveled aboard the Mayflower to settle in America. Many Pilgrims died that first harsh winter from sickness and starvation. The Native Americans, called Indians, helped the survivors by teaching them how to hunt, fish, and grow corn and vegetables. The following autumn, the Pilgrims held a feast to celebrate their first successful harvest in America and give thanks. This feast is considered the origin of the modern American Thanksgiving holiday.

2. A long time ago in a country called England, there
were a group of people who all went to the same
church, they were called Puritans.

3. There was a king
of England who
thought everyone
should go to his
church.
He got mad when the
pilgrims didn’t want
to go to his church,
he said, “You go to
my church or you go
to jail!”

4. The pilgrims said, “Ok, we’ll go to jail.”

5. Finally the king realized that
the Pilgrims weren’t going to
change their minds so he said,
“You can get out of jail, but
you have to leave England.”
So the pilgrims set sail for
America on a ship called
the “Mayflower.”

6. The trip to America was long and hard. There were storms
and the ship was really crowded.

7. When they got to America, it was winter and there were no
food or houses. Many of the pilgrims died from sickness,
starvation and freezing to death.

8. There were some people who lived in America already. We
called them Indians. They saw the Pilgrims suffering and
they decided to help them.

9. They showed them how to hunt and
fish.
They helped them build houses out
of the trees there.
They showed them how to grow
corn and pumpkins.

10. When it was winter again, the Pilgrims had food and a
place to live.

11. They were so happy, they said, “We need to have a feast
and celebrate. We’ll invite our friends, the Indians.”

12. So they had a great feast that lasted for a whole week, they ate
turkey, fish, deer, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin. They
played games.

13. But the first thing they did was to say a prayer of Thanksgiving
to God for giving them friends, food, houses and a place to live
where they could go to any church they wanted.

14. We still have Thanksgiving today.

15. Vocabulary
• acorns
• baste
• blessings
• canoe
• carve
• centerpiece
• cider
• colonists
• cornbread
• cornucopia
• cranberries
• drumstick
• gobble
• gratitude
• gravy
• leftovers
• maize
• pecan pie
• squash
• stuffing
• tablecloth
• treaty
• wishbone

16. Why The 4th
Thursday?
(Tex Avery)

22. Traditions – Black Friday

23. Traditions – The Wishbone

24. Traditions – Macy’s Thanksgiving
Day Parade

25. Traditions – Turkey Pardon

26. Traditions – Thanksgiving Nap

27. Traditions – Thanksgiving Sandwich

28. Traditions – Thanksgiving Picture

29. Who Invented Thanksgiving?
• Author and teacher Robyn Gioia and
Michael Gannon of the University of
Florida have argued that the earliest attested
"thanksgiving" celebration in what is now
the United States was celebrated by the
Spanish in 1565 in what is now Saint
Augustine, Florida.