This document is a lesson plan that discusses common myths and distortions around the historical events of the first Thanksgiving. It aims to correct false information that students may have previously been taught. For example, it notes that the Pilgrims were not actually called that, the feast likely did not include foods like ham and potatoes, and the Native Americans were not invited but rather found the settlers feasting and joined. The lesson emphasizes how legends and distortions can form and be perpetuated if the full complex truths are not taught.

1. BELL RINGER
(1/2 SHEET, 5 MIN, COMPLETE SENTENCES)

1. Who is the intended audience for the
cartoon?

2. What might the audience learn from the
cartoon?

3. Why is Thanksgiving celebrated?

3. 1. THEE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN 1621
AND WAS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR

4. 1. THE FIRST THANKSGIVING WAS IN 1621 AND
WAS CELEBRATED EVERY YEAR

They didn’t call it Thanksgiving

It was not repeated every year

Became a national holiday in 1863

5. WHEN DO YOU CELEBRATE THANKSGIVING

6. 2. THE ORIGINAL FEAST TOOK PLACE ON THE 4TH
THURSDAY IN NOV.

7. 2. THE ORIGINAL FEAST TOOK PLACE ON THE 4TH
THURSDAY IN NOV.

We don’t know the exact date

Between Sep. 21 and Nov. 11

9. 3. THE SETTLERS WORE ONLY BLACK AND
WHITE CLOTHING WITH BUCKLES ON THEIR
HATS AND SHOES
 Buckles became popular almost 100 years
later

Black and white was only worn on Sundays
and special occasions

10. 4. THE SETTLERS WERE CALLED PILGRIMS EVER
SINCE THEY LEFT ENGLAND AND EVEN CALLED
THEMSELVES THE NAME

What is the definition the textbook gives you?

11. 4. THE SETTLERS WERE CALLED PILGRIMS EVER
SINCE THEY LEFT ENGLAND AND EVEN CALLED
THEMSELVES THE NAME
 Someone who makes a pilgrimage; a journey
for religious reasons
 Term pilgrim was used to describer settlers
much later in history

12. WHY WERE THESE FACTS DISTORTED

13. 
Different settlements

Different beliefs

Bits and pieces came together from different places

Easy to generalize

Some facts are hard to accept

Legend sounds better than the truth

14. 5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON
THE THANKSGIVING MENU

15. 5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON
THE THANKSGIVING MENU

No pigs in America = No ham

Potatoes were not common

Corn was put away for winter

16. 5. HAM, CORN AND SWEET POTATOES WERE ON
THE THANKSGIVING MENU

17. BELL RINGER

5 min, ½ sheet, complete sentences

How do you feel about the settlers eating
crane, swan, eagle, seal? Why?

18. WHAT DO YOU FIND MORE ACCEPTABLE TO EAT

Some of these foods are hard to accept
which is why the facts were changed.

19. WHAT HAS BEEN DISTORTED IN MODERN DAY
LIFE?

9/11

Santa Claus

Native Americans

20. WHO IS DOING THE DISTORTING?

21. 6. THE SETTLERS FOUND CORN

22. 6. THE SETTLERS FOUND CORN

Corn was stolen from a grave

Natives left food on the graves of their dead

Settlers dug up the body of a child, took the
items inside and reburied the body

23. 
“Today is a time of celebrating for you… but it is
not a time of celebrating for me. It is with heavy
heart that I look back upon what happened to
my people… The pilgrims had hardly explored
the shores of Cape Cod… before they had
robbed the graves of my ancestors, and stolen
their corn, wheat, and beans… Massasoit, the
great leader of the Wampanoag, knew these
facts; yet he and his people welcomed and
befriended the settlers…, little knowing that…
before 50 years were to pass, the
Wampanoags… and other Indians living near
the settlers would be killed by their guns or dead

24. 7. THE NATIVES WERE INVITED TO THE
THANKSGIVING FEAST

25. 7. THE NATIVES WERE INVITED TO THE
THANKSGIVING FEAST

It happened by accident

Natives heard a gunshot and marched to the
settlers’ camp

Natives found the settlers feasting so they
went back, brought food, and invited
themselves in since they had food.

26. 8. THANKSGIVING IS CONSIDERED A HAPPY
TIME

27. 8. THANKSGIVING IS CONSIDERED A HAPPY
TIME

Depends who you ask

The Thanksgiving feast was followed by 50
years of brutal warfare between Natives and
the settlers. Guns, European style of warfare,
and disease decimated the Native tribe.

28. WHY WEREN’T YOU THOUGHT THE TRUTH
BEFORE?