First Thanksgiving

A collection of books all about Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving

Zoe Watkins, Bailea Trenkamp, Glorinela Villalba, and Reagan Vater

This first Thanksgiving was followed by deadly conflict between the Native Americans and the Pilgrims over the land in North America.

In 1636, there was a war that killed many people. 

This was so sad to see. They seemed to be enjoying their time at that thanksgiving feast.

Pilgrims burned Native American villages, which left many Native Americans dead or homeless.

Life was going well for the Wampanoag tribe, it seemed like.

 One day, some of the men went to harvest some corn, and it was gone.

Someone had harvested their corn without asking them if it was okay. 

I know who took your corn! I watched them!

Pilgrims had come to their land on a ship called the Mayflower.

This is who had stolen the Native American's corn. they were planning to steal their land as well!

These colonists were not only stealing their land. They also introduced new diseases that most Native Americans could not survive.

4.H.CH.1 Describe how migration and settlement impacted diverse groups of people as they encountered one another from European Exploration to the Thirteen Colonies. How could this be used in the classroom:  It would be a great idea to teach a mini-unit on Native Americans and their culture during the month of November since this is near Thanksgiving. Our book we created gives an overview of the thanksgiving feast, relationship among colonists and Native Americans, as well as accurate information regarding the events that occurred when the colonists first arrived. The website we used was called book creator. As a teacher you can create a folder where you can keep student’s books in that folder. I think this would be a great idea as a summative assessment at the end of the mini-unit for students to use the information they learned to write their own book that will go in the teacher’s library. At the end they can also present their book to the class. We think this is a great way to show what they’ve learned about Native American culture, colonists, and the 13th colonies. The teacher's book, the book we created, could be used as an example for them to create their own. There are endless possibilities for the topics that students can choose so it will be an activity that they will enjoy.

"This is a story about the the Native Americans who live in North America as well as colonists from Europe called Pilgrims"

 The women of the Wampanoag tribe had been preparing for winter that was nearing. 

They were harvesting squash, beans, and corn.

The men had been chopping up wood so they had it available to burn all winter long.

Thanksgiving is a great way to spend time with family, but remember to think of what really happened on Thanksgiving rather than what you might have been taught previously. 

Unfortunately, the true story of Thanksgiving isn't as happy as what you might have been taught. Many Native Americans were killed and their land was taken unfairly.  The Native Americans recognize the Pilgrims journey on their homeland as a time of mourning rather than a time of giving thanks.

The relationship between the native americans and the pilgrims was not always so good. The pilgrims had a successful harvest that year thanks to the Native Americans teaching them how to farm, so to celebrate Governor William Bradford planned a feast.

He invited about 90 Native Americans including the Wampanoag Chief Massasoit.

This event is remembered as America’s “First Thanksgiving”. They ate corn, squash, deer, wild birds, and fish. 

 Who attended this feast? Well there were over 50 colonists and 90 Native Americans!  22 of them were men, 25 were young children, and 4 were married women. 

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