To be honest I have a horrible memory and have been out of elementary school for so loooong! I kid- I am 30 years old but it does seem like forever ago and now have children in Jr. High. Lets see if I think back on just growing up in the U.S and what I can actually remember about what was taught about the first Thanksgiving.

From the little bit I can remember (and to be honest some quick internet research to refresh my memory) the first Thanksgiving was a gathering of the Native Americans and Pilgrims to share a bountiful harvest. The pilgrims who settled at Plymouth Rock the year prior had a hard time with their crops and lives were lost. The Native Americans helped the pilgrims with their crops; this was thought to be the reason they survived. Due to this they had a feast to celebrate their bountiful harvest.

I do not remember specifically but since I have children who have recently completed elementary school I will guess that we colored, drew or assembled a Turkey, Native American, Pilgrim, the Mayflower, and the food scenes.

From kindergarten to the second grade, the Friday before Thanksgiving break we would learn about Thanksgiving, do activities, and say what we were thankful for. In all grades I learned about a “general” Thanksgiving. We talked about how the Pilgrims came here on the Mayflower, that the Native Americans helped the Pilgrims grow food, and that the Pilgrims were so thankful toward the Native Americans that they celebrated with a large feast. Through these grades i made a lot of different crafts but the one that stuck throughout all of them was the hand-turkey. We would make a cut out of our hands and add parts to it to make it look like a turkey. The first four fingers would create the feathers and the thumb would be the turkey’s head. In the fingers we would write what we were thankful for.

https://www.engineeringthepast.com/623-2/

To be quite honest I have very little memory of years prior to high school due to an injury. I am/will however to do my best. First I remember there being something about the Mayflower however nothing ever mentioned about other ships, just the Mayflower. They landed in Plymouth trying to flee religious persecution in England. Once they landed the weather was significantly different than in England. Since they weren’t ready for the harsh environment they didn’t know how to grow the right foods to grow for the environment. Due to this they starved and froze to near death. On the brink of death “Indians” aided in the survival of the pilgrims. One specific Indian, Squanto befriended the pilgrims since he knew how to speak English. Squanto knew English from prior travels with other settlers England. Squanto and his tribe assisted the pilgrims in their survival by showing the practically everything. He showed them how to grow crops, build shelter and even multiple methods of cooking. Without the help they would never had survived. The thanksgiving meal was a means of appreciation towards the natives.

Some of the crafts that I recall doing was making a turkey place mat out of the outline of my hand. Along with the place mat there was Indian hats made out of paper and a paper feather. A big thing that would happen would be a big potluck that was done. Of course it involving food I can only remember that. In the potluck the food brought was things such as turkey, mash potatoes, stuffing, rolls, pumpkin pie, corn, and something to drink. While I would start to eat, they teacher would tell us what they actually ate. For example instead of raised rolls there would have been a unleavened bread, instead of turkey they had pheasant or quail. They would also have more root based vegetables. The teachers explained that there wasn’t really anything sweet on the table in the 1600’s since sugar was very rare.