MINI CLASS

Mini Class

North America

Thanksgiving Day! fourth Thursday in the month of November

Class:

• Higher Education.

Time:

• 40 minutes.

General Objectives:

• Expand vocabulary.
• Know the historical origin of Thanksgiving, the main symbols and customs.

Specific Objective:

• Provide students with activities that expand their knowledge of this aspect of culture in the English language;
• Realize the level of English of the students and to encourage research into new words.

History:

The history of Thanksgiving Thanksgiving Day in America is a time to offer thanks, of family reunions and holiday meals. A time of turkeys, stuffing, and pumpkin pie. A time for Indian corn, holiday parades and giant balloons. In 1621, after a hard and devastating first year in the New World, the Pilgrim’s fall harvest was very successful and plentiful. There was corn, fruits, vegetables, along with fish and meat. They found they had enough food to put away for the winter. The Pilgrims had beaten the odds. They built homes in the wilderness, they raised enough crops to keep them alive during the long winter, and they were at peace with their Indian neighbors. Their Governor, William Bradford, proclaimed a day of thanksgiving that was to be shared by all the colonists and the Native American Indians. The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. During the American Revolution (late 1770’s) a day of national thanksgiving was suggested. In 1817 New York State adopted Thanksgiving Day as an annual custom. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving, which is nowadays celebrated on the 4th Thursday of November all over the USA. Adapted from http://www.holidays.net/thanksgiving/story.htm (Accessed on November  17, 2014.)

Video about the history of Thanksgiving Day.

Answer the questions

The text above has some information about a major Holiday US National: Day of Thanksgiving (Thanksgiving). According to the text, we can interpret that: a. Day after Thanksgiving is the day that US families together to thank the good events. b. the main course of the day of Thanksgiving is the turkey and apple pie. c. Day of Thanksgiving is celebrated in the United States in the last Tuesday of every November. d. Day of Thanksgiving is a national holiday since 1621, time when the first settlers came to American soil. e. Day of Thanksgiving was adopted as a national holiday by influence of American Indians who have celebrated this feast.

f. Where is Thanksgiving Day celebrated? g. Why did the Pilgrims have the first Thanksgiving? Mark True or false h. Thanksgiving is a holiday only in the USA. (…..) i. It is a time to give thanks in cities like New York and Toronto. (…..) k. Families get together on Thanksgiving Day. (…..) l. Thanksgiving has been an annual holiday in the USA since 1863. (…..)

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