English blog

This year, to recreate the spirit of Thanksgiving, we had a wonderful special Thanksgiving lunch. Our menu was  roast turkey with lots of gravy, pasta, salad, pumpkin soup and  jelly.  We decorated the canteen "Thanksgiving style" with leaves, nuts, Autumn fruits, corn cobs, wheat spikes and pumpkins. Of course, lunch was prepared and served by our own  nice "pilgrim" canteen ladies.

Because Thanksgiving is all about  being thankful for the important things in our lives, our teachers asked us to  reflect on all the good things and opportunities we are grateful for  this year  and write them down on Post-it notes. All the messages were posted to a big wall next to the canteen and throughout the day we could go there  to read the notes and add some more. It was interesting  to stand and read the gratitude plastered on that wall. Deep, meaningful, significant things....  side by side with fun teen jokes, of course.

In the  school library (and in class)  we watched a selection of videos about Thanksgiving and we discussed some of the cultural traditions associated with this day. If you missed it, watch the films here:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FkvzrTt7fCE&list=PLSB0ELi17ctAVo4nO-v8y5dkEglqArGHn

How It All Began It all starts with the Pilgrims, religious separatists (for the most part) from England, and early settlers, who immigrated to America on their ship, the Mayflower, and landed in what is today known as Plymouth, Massachusetts in 1620. Their first year adapting to life in a new land was treacherous – more than half of the settlers died in that first winter. They were foreign to the land, and as a result, unfamiliar with how to hunt, yield sufficient crop for their population, and prepare themselves for the merciless winter. Though Plymouth was new to the Pilgrims, it was already inhabited by indigenous people; Native Americans from the Wampanoag tribe had been living there, and came into contact with the Pilgrims shortly after they began populating the area. With the Native Americans’ help, along with Squanto acting as an interpreter and guide between the two populations, the Pilgrims learned how to harvest the land and ultimately, survive. Though...