CU2-10a

One or both of these lessons (10a and/or 10b) should be used – if both, then the previous lesson might be combined with earlier lessons 2:10a **Title:** Thanksgiving – origin and example of harvest festival
 * Goals: ** Students will research harvest festivals and practices from different cultures and learn the secular origins of the American Thanksgiving.
 * Materials:**
 * 1.  ****Gain the attention of the learner** Bring in some Thanksgiving foods. Ask students to identify them.
 * 2.  ****Review relevant past learning** We reviewed the celebration of Sukkot. This festival marked the end of the harvest season.
 * 3.  ****Present new material** The original Thanksgiving in 1621 was a 3-day feast of the Puritans and the Wampanoag Indians. The Indians were invited to sign a treaty giving the Pilgrims the rights to the Pilgrim Plantation to build a town. For the Indians, it was the 5th of their 6 annual thanksgiving festivals. For the Pilgrims, November was the time of religious thanksgiving feasts in England. Even though the Indians were the invited guests, they brought most of the food (http://www.2020tech.com/thanks/temp.html#story). It wasn’t until Abraham Lincoln declared Thanksgiving as a National Holiday that it began to be observed every year instead of sporadiacally and locally (See also http://deil.lang.uiuc.edu/web.pages/holidays/Thanksgiving.html).
 * 4.  ****Provide guided practice**. What things did the early Hebrews have to be thankful for at the end of each harvest? How did their harvest compare to the Pilgrim’s celebrations?
 * 5.  ****Provide independent practice** During this holiday season, we like to mark how lucky we are by sharing our good fortune with others. At the Folkshul, we prepare food baskets so others can have a happy holiday too. What other things can you do at home, to show your family that you are thankful that they are your family?
 * 6.  ****Close the lesson** Have students share their ideas. Design a page in the passport describing the holiday.