The passage describes the story of the first Thanksgiving celebrated by the Pilgrims and Wampanoag people. The Pilgrims fled religious persecution in England and traveled on the Mayflower to settle in America. Many Pilgrims died that first winter from sickness and starvation. The Wampanoag people taught the Pilgrims how to hunt, fish, and grow corn so they could survive. The following harvest, the Pilgrims and Wampanoag shared a feast to celebrate their first successful harvest and to give thanks for their new lives in America.

1. The First Thanksgiving By Piper Macnab

2. In the early 1600’s, there were a group of people who all went to the same church in England, they were called Puritans .

3. The king of England thought everyone should go to his church . He told them to leave the country, or they would go to jail.

4. So in 1620, the pilgrims set sail for America on a ship called the “Mayflower.” There were 102 passengers.

5. The trip to America was long and hard. There were storms and the ship was really crowded. It lasted 66 days.

6. When they got to America, it was winter and there were no food or houses. Many of the pilgrims died from sickness, starvation and freezing to death.

7. There were some people who lived in America already. We called them Indians . They saw the Pilgrims suffering and they decided to help them.

8. They showed them how to hunt and fish . They helped them build houses out of the trees there. They showed them how to grow corn and pumpkins.

9. When it was winter again, the Pilgrims had food and a place to live.

10. They were so happy, they invited them to a giant feast.

11. So they had a great feast that lasted for a whole week, they ate turkey, fish, deer, sweet potatoes, corn and pumpkin. They thanked God for being able to live where they could worship whatever religion they wanted to.

12. We still have Thanksgiving today on the last Thursday in November

13. Yum!