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The First Thanksgiving
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In 1620 the Pilgrims left England on a ship, the Mayflower. They were sailing to the New World.
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Do you know how it feels to move away and leave friends
behind?
Imagine Yourself At The First Thanksgiving…
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The Pilgrims sailed to the New World on the Mayflower. It was a long, cold, two-month voyage.
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How do you think the Pilgrims felt after
their long journey?
Imagine Yourself at the First Thanksgiving …
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Families on the Mayflower lived together in small
spaces. They had to eat all of their foods
uncooked and cold because the sailors did not want a fire to start
on the ship.
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Christopher Jones was their captain. The Pilgrims first spotted land at Cape Cod,
but they landed at Plymouth.
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Plymouth was a better place to land because it
had a better harbor. Also, there were plenty of fish to hunt and eat.
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Use Your Senses
Imagine Yourself at the First Thanksgiving …
Senses Fish Water
SMELL ? ?
TASTE ? ?
FEEL ? ?
LOOK ? ?
SOUND ? ?
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The Pilgrims did not leave the Mayflower right away.
It was too cold outside. They had landed at
Plymouth in the middle of the winter. The conditions were so bad they could not
build houses.
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In the spring the Pilgrims were able to leave the Mayflower
and build houses.
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The Pilgrims were afraid of the
American Indians, but the American
Indians were peaceful and helped the Pilgrims plant
crops.
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Samoset walked into the Pilgrims’
settlement one day, and the settlers were
afraid.
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Samoset came in peace. He welcomed the settlers to the
New World.
The Pilgrims were shocked Samoset knew and
understood English. Samoset had learned English while
fishing with English sailors.
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On Samoset’s next visit to the Plymouth
settlement, he brought his friend, Squanto, with him.
Squanto spoke better English and had traveled several
times to Spain and England.
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The Pilgrims did not know what it would be like in the New World. They would not have survived if American
Indians had not taught them to farm and build
homes.
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Squanto showed the Pilgrims how
to tap maple trees for sap.
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Imagine Yourself at the First Thanksgiving…
What do maple trees look like? Feel like?
What does the sap from a maple tree taste like?
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Squanto pointed out the poisonous plants and the plants that
made medicine.He even taught the
Pilgrims to plant crops like corn.
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By October of that year, the Pilgrims had enough food for the
winter.
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The Pilgrims stored the corn, fruits, and
vegetables they had grown.
They salted their fish and meats to preserve
them through the winter.
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The Pilgrims were proud of themselves. They had built
homes to live in, grown crops, and made peace
with the American Indians.
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Imagine Yourself at the First Thanksgiving …
How do you feel when you do a good job?
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The governor of the Plymouth settlement was William Bradford. The first Thanksgiving was his idea. The American Indians were invited to the three-day
celebration.
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The first Thanksgiving was a
celebration of thanks for the crops the
Pilgrims had harvested.
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The first Thanksgiving was believed to have been held in mid-
October.
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Use Your Senses
Imagine Yourself at the First Thanksgiving …
Senses October
SMELL ?
TASTE ?
FEEL ?
LOOK ?
SOUND ?
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