To know more about Thanksgiving, here you have a rap and a text with some questions you have to answer in your notebooks.
THANKSGIVING
THANKSGIVING
 |
| Macy's Parade in New York |
Americans of all religions celebrate
Thanksgiving on the fourth Thursday of November. Children do not go
to school,, and most businesses close for four days. People in Canada
also celebrate thanksgiving, but they celebrate it on the second
Monday in October.
WHY
IS THANKSGIVING AN IMPORTANT DAY?
The
tradition started with the “Pilgrim Fathers”. They were the
founders of a colony in North America. These people were Puritans.
They were against the Church of England, and suffered persecution in
England. They wanted to start a new life in a new country.
Eventually, on 6 September 1620, 102
men, women and children left Plymouth in south-west England on a ship
called the Mayflower. The voyage was difficult: two Pilgrims
died, but two were born. On 11 December 1620 they landed on the
north-east coast of North America. They called this area Plymouth. It
was almost winter and there wasn´t much food. They immediately built
small houses, but it was too late to grow crops. The winter was very
long and cold and half of the Pilgrims died.
In
the spring a native American called Squanto helped the Pilgrims. He
taught them how to grow corn and how to hunt and fish. Soon the
Pilgrims and the Wampanoag native Americans became friends. The
Pilgrims grew crops and the summer harvest was excellent. By November
1621 everyone had food and a home.
There
was hope for the future.
William Bradford was the governor of
the Pilgrim´s colony. He decided to celebrate with a dinner for the
Pilgrims and about ninety native Americans. He wanted to thank God.
This was the first Thanksgiving dinner, and it continued for three
days.
A
TRADITIONAL THANKSGIVING
Today
the traditional Thanksgiving meal is similar to the first. People eat
roast turkey with cranberry sauce, potatoes, corn and pumpkin pie.
Vegetarians don´t eat meat, but they still celebrate Thanksgiving
with other foods, such as soya products, rice, fruit, vegetables and
big salads.
New
York City celebrates with Macy´s Thanksgiving Day Parade. Macy´s
department store organised its first parade in 1924. This parade is
very famous, and more than two million people go to see it every
year.
Are the
following sentences true (T) or false (F)?
- Canadians do not celebrate Thanksgiving.
- Americans celebrate Thanksgiving on the fourth Tuesday of November.
- The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims.
- There were only fifty people on the Mayflower.
- Their first winter in Plymouth was very difficult.
- The native Americans did not help the Pilgrims.
- The first Thanksgiving dinner continued for three days.
- The famous Macy´s Thanksgiving Parade is Los Angeles.
Adapted from British and American Traditions Gina D. B. Clemen
