A Close Reading Investigation with Annotation Guide

& Common Core Analysis

Common Core!

Thanksgiving

Exposed!

Copyright © 2016 Instructomania

"The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe

The First Thanksgiving 1621, oil on canvas by Jean Leon Gerome Ferris

1. Now that you know

about the true roots of

Thanksgiving, what’s

inaccurate in these

famous paintings?

2. How would the true

story be painted

differently?

Common Core Writing 6-8.1, Common Core Literacy 6-8.2,4 & 10

thanksgiving Exposed!

Copyright © 2016 Instructomania

The FIRST THANKSGIVING

I n the typical story book version of the first

Thanksgiving, we remember how the

Pilgrims settled New England, befriended

the Indians, and enjoyed a huge friendly

feast, eventually paving the way for the creation

of a new nation, the United States of America.

This watered-down storybook version of this

important period of time in American history

leaves out so many important facts, and raises

many questions: With the pre-Columbian

American Indian population numbering in the 10

million range, where were all of these Indians

when the Pilgrims arrived? How did the Pilgrims

know how to cook and eat pumpkins, squash,

and turkey, when none of these foods were

known to them in the Old World? Who was

Squanto, and why did he help the Pilgrims?

These important questions can help us crack

open the truth about Thanksgiving, exposing the

true story.

WHERE DID ALL THE INDIANS GO?

When the Pilgrims arrived in Massachusetts,

they found the Indian village of Patuxet, with

recently planted fields of corn and beans, nicely

cleared fields, a good harbor, and a bustling

creek of fresh water. It was a lovely Indian

village…with no Indians. What the history books

won’t tell you is that these Indians had been

decimated by disease just a few years earlier. If

the Pilgrims had arrived in 1618, perhaps, they

would have encountered the same village,

bustling with Indian families, farming and going

on about their daily lives. Instead, plagues of

smallpox, influenza, and other Old World

diseases had rampaged through the native

populations in North America, killing off,

according to some estimates, 90 to 96 percent of

all people in the Americas. In comparison, the

Black Plague in Europe killed off about 30

percent of the European population.

So what did the Pilgrims do when they arrived in

the village of Patuxet? Well, they ransacked the

houses, stole bushels of corn and beans from the

fields, and robbed graves. They then renamed

the settlement Plymouth, and settled in the for

the long haul. Squanto’s village had been

decimated by disease, to which the Pilgrims

attributed as their divine right to the New World.

John Winthrop, the first Governor of the

Massachusetts Bay Colony said: “For the natives,

The Pilgrims ransacked the houses,

stole bushels of corn and beans,

and robbed graves.

"The First Thanksgiving at Plymouth" (1914) By Jennie A. Brownscombe

Common Core Writing 6-8.1, Common Core Literacy 6-8.2,4 & 10

Thanksgiving Exposed!

Common Core Writing 6-8.1, Common Core Literacy 6-8.2,4 & 10

Copyright © 2016 Instructomania

they are neere all dead of small Poxe, so as the

Lord hathe cleared our title to what we possess.”

SQUANTO THE SLAVE

According to legend, Squanto learned how to

speak English from fisherman who ventured near

his village each year. The legend continues that

Squanto taught the Indians how to plant crops

and helped the Pilgrims celebrate the first

Thanksgiving. But who was Squanto really? Well,

his story is a little more interesting.

Squanto didn’t really learn how to speak English

from fishermen; instead he was seized by a slave

raider in 1614, and sold into slavery in Malaga,

Spain. He then escaped from slavery, escaped

from Spain, and boarded passage back to his

home continent, North America. He returned

home in 1619 to find his village, Patuxet,

devastated by disease. Squanto was the sole

survivor.

Squanto did help the Pilgrims survive for their

first two years in Plymouth, but why did he? He

helped the Pilgrims plant their crops and sell

their goods. The Pilgrims saw Squanto, as well as

other helpful Indians, as instruments of God, and

another sign that they were destined to settle in

the New World. For Squanto, having returned

from his life in slavery to find his village empty

and every one he knew gone, it is likely that he

really didn’t have any other choice but to help

the Pilgrims.

The real thanksgiving

Unlike popular belief, there never really was a

“First Thanksgiving,” where the Indians and the

Pilgrims all sat down together to eat some

delicious Turkey Day stuffing. The tradition of

giving thanks goes back to the Eastern tradition of

celebrating an autumnal harvest each year. The

actual holiday tradition of Thanksgiving wasn’t

made official until Abraham Lincoln proclaimed the

last Thursday of each November as Thanksgiving, in

1863. The story of the Pilgrims and the Indians

were not even incorporated into the tradition until

1890, more than 30 years later!

Original map of Plymouth drawn by Samuel de Champlain in 1605. The star

is the approximate site of the original settlement

Did You Know? In 1941, as a way to boost the economy after the

Great Depression, President Franklin D. Roosevelt

changed the date for Thanksgiving from the last

Thursday in November to the fourth Thursday in

November. This was because traditionally, people did

not begin shopping for Christmas presents until after

Thanksgiving. Moving the day up by a week would

give people an extra day to shop, and pave the way

for our current Black Friday sales across the United

States.

Squanto teaching the Pilgrims how to plant their crops.

Sources Cited: 1. Alfred W. Crosby, Ecological Imperialism: The Biological Expansion of

Europe, 900-1900 (Austin, TX: Cambridge University Press, 2004), 195-

216.

2. Edward Eggleston, A History of the United States and Its People (Lake

Wales, Florida: Lost Classics Book Company Publisher, 1998), 34-40

3. James W. Loewen, Lies My Teacher Told Me;: Everything Your American

History Textbook Got Wrong (New York: The New Press, 1995), 67-89

Copyright © 2016 Instructomania

Directions: Fill in the graphic organizer after reading Thanksgiving Exposed!

Commonly held beliefs:

What’s the common held tradition

or belief about this holiday?

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

______________________________

Sketch! Draw a quick picture

of two items, symbols or icons

that represent this holiday.

Summarize the first section:

heading:______________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

_________________________

Select a portion of text that you find interesting. Write it

below.

Summarize the second sec-tion:

heading:______________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

Vocabulary building: Select

two words that you were not famil-

iar with and write what you can infer

the meaning of the word is below:

1._______________________

_________________________

_________________________

2._______________________

_________________________

_________________________

Summarize the third section:

heading:______________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

Main Idea: Select a portion of text that best summarizes the main idea

of the reading. Write it in quotes below:

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

________________________

Common Core Writing 6-8.1, Common Core Literacy 6-8.2,4 & 10

The Holidays Exposed!

Copyright © 2016 Instructomania

Directions: Fill in the graphic organizer after reading Thanksgiving Exposed!

Commonly held beliefs:

What’s the common held tradition

or belief about this holiday?

Sketch! Draw a quick picture

of two items, symbols or icons

that represent this holiday.

Summarize the first section:

Heading: Where did the Indians Go?

Select a portion of text that you find

interesting.

Summarize the second sec- Vocabulary building: Select

two words that you were not famil-

iar with and write what you can infer

the meaning of the word is below:

Summarize the third section:

Main Idea: Select a portion of text that best summarizes the main idea

of the reading. Write it in quotes

That the Pilgrims arrived

and the Indians helped

them to plant crops,

eventually leading to a

great feast that they

shared together.

This watered-down story-

book version of this im-

portant period of time in

American history leaves

out so many important

facts...

The Indians died of dis-

ease, leaving their

plowed field ready and

their homes available to

rob. The Pilgrims though

t this was an act of God.

Where did all the Indians

Go? Squanto was

captured as a slave and

brought to Spain. He

returned to find his

people were decimated by

disease. With little choice

he helped the Pilgrims.

The real Thanksgiving

was created from the

autumn harvest

celebration, then

Lincoln made an official

holiday. Later the

storybook version was

added.

Answer will vary.

Answer will vary. Answer will vary.

Answer Key!

Common Core Writing 6-8.1, Common Core Literacy 6-8.2,4 & 10

The Holidays Exposed!

Copyright © 2015 Instructomania Pavlovich

Common Core 6-8.4

Annotations are used to help the reader interact with the text in order make the text meaningful. Annotations

that are done correctly should enable the reader to look back and remember important information from the

text without having to re-read the entire text. Here are a few annotations that you will be using this year.

Name Annotation Explanation

1. Mystery Words

I:

or

D:

Put a box around any words that you

are uncertain of the definition

I: Write what you can infer (guess)

about the meaning from cues in the

surrounding text.

D: If you can’t infer anything, look up

the definition and write it down.

2. Key Terms circle Place a circle around key people,

dates, vocabulary and ideas.

3. Strike Gold! (or underline ) highlight Highlight small chunks of “golden text”

that you think has the most important

information.

Caution: Make sure not to abuse this idea.

Try to discern which text represents the

most important information only. Usually

only a few parts of sentences will be

highlighted per paragraph.

4. Star Key Points Put a star and write notes in the margin a

of text that represent the most important

thought or idea in the whole reading. Star

points are given to content that is related

to class discussions, classwork or any

course learning.

5. Short summary for each reading

subheading.

Hashtag (#) OR

Billboard Advertisement OR

Web Address

Hashtag: Just like in the digital world

hashtags are used to summarize the main

idea. The hashtag is followed by text that

summarizes key points of each paragraph.

Ex: #shortenedkeysummary

Billboard: A quick ad or ad re-phrase that

summarizes the main point. Ex: Got Milk?

Web Address: Create a .com web address

summary of the main idea.

For example: summarizethisarticle.com

Word