The First Thanksgiving Sally: Welcome to The First Thanksgiving performed by Miss Teachers first grade students.

Bill: This is the story of the very first Thanksgiving. The Pilgrims have just come over on the Mayflower from England. The year was 1620. The place was Massachusetts in the New World they called America. Hailey: It is the fall of 1620 and we are leaving Plymouth, England, to go to America to find freedom to practice our religion. Olivia: The Pilgrims were people who lived in England 400 years ago when only one kind of church was allowed. The Pilgrims wanted to worship God in their own way so they left England and came to America. Everyone sings (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush): The Pilgrims came to America, America, America. The Pilgrims came to America A long, long time ago. They sailed on the Mayflower, The Mayflower, the Mayflower. They sailed on the Mayflower A long, long time ago. Joey: More than 100 people, including 22 children, squeeze into a small wooden sailing ship called the Mayflower. For their trip they bring simple foods like hard cheese, bread, dried beans, and salted meat. Zach: Storms rock the Mayflower and many passengers get seasick.

Logan: Day after day we saw nothing but the endless ocean and sky. Now and then, the huge slippery body of a whale would break the surface of the water. Joey: After 66 days at sea we heard the words we had been dreaming of for so long, Land Ho! Sally: Thank goodness they finally landed in the New World. The Native people see the Pilgrims but they stay hidden in the woods. Susie: In December, the Pilgrims find a hilly area near present-day Boston, where they build Plymouth Colony. For weeks there is nothing but rain, sleet, or snow. Dylan: It is cold here. We are not used to so much snow. We dig a well but the water freezes. The children help us build a few houses. Joey: Exhausted, we build one big house and huddle together for warmth, trying to survive on stale food from the Mayflower. Many of my friends get sick and die that first winter. Susie: During their first winter, more than half the Pilgrims die from disease and starvation. In March a Native arrives at the colony. Ashley: At last it is spring! A Native man comes to see the Pilgrims. His name is Squanto. Everyone sings (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush): They made friends with the Indians, The Indians, the Indians. They made friends with the Indians A long, long time ago. Jack: Welcome to the New World. I am Squanto. When I was a young man, I was kidnapped by English soldiers. I lived in England where I
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learned to speak English. Many years later I found a way to come back home to America. Sally: I am Massasoit. I am chief of the Wampanoag tribe. We have lived in America for thousands of years. Tracy: Welcome. We are Pilgrims who have just come here from England. We are cold and hungry and our food supply has run low. Joey: Do not worry. Squanto will show you how to hunt and catch fish in streams. Courtney: We will show you how to plant corn, pumpkin, and beans. Alexis: Squanto turned out to be a special friend. He taught the Pilgrims many things. He showed us where to find the best fish and how to get eels out of the mud at low tide. Blake: Squanto taught us how to find our way safely through the dark forest and where to find nuts and berries and wild herbs. Sammy: Squanto showed us a really neat trick. If you plant corn with some fish, it will fertilize the seed and grow better corn. Everyone sings (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush): They planted seeds. The corn grew tall. The corn grew tall. The corn grew tall. They planted seeds. The corn grew tall. A long, long time ago. Joey: We show the Pilgrims how to make clothes and blankets from animal skins. They will be warm next winter.

Jaelyn: The Pilgrims took good care of the crops. Working together, with the Indians, they gathered enough meat and fish to last through the coming winter. Riley: When Autumn came, the Pilgrims rejoiced over their harvest of bright ears of corn, fat pumpkins, peas, beans, delicious squash, and green herbs. Billy: They felt so happy about their good fortune that they wanted to celebrate! They knew they could never have survived without the Indians, so the Pilgrims invited the Indians to join them in a feast. Susan: I cut the pumpkins and squash and make corn pudding. Joey: I cook the beans and turn the meat over the fire. Phillip: The Pilgrims get a surprise. Chief Massasoit comes. He brings many people. Will there be enough food? Kate: We each caught a deer. Five deer will be food enough for everyone. Matthew: Did you know that there were more Native people than Pilgrims at that first Thanksgiving feast? Patty: For three whole days everyone ate delicious food and played games too. Everyone sings (to the tune of Here We Go Round the Mulberry Bush): They had a great Thanksgiving feast, Thanksgiving feast, Thanksgiving feast. They had a great Thanksgiving feast A long, long time ago.

David: Squanto, Massasoit, and the other member of the Wampanoag Tribe taught the Pilgrims how to survive in the New World. And the Pilgrims helped the Indians in return. Joey: When the first harvest came in the fall of 1621, the Pilgrims made a special feast to share with the Native Americans. That is the story of the very first Thanksgiving. Charles: The Pilgrims did not call their feast Thanksgiving. It was just a celebration. Adrianne: To remember that time so long ago, a time of brave Pilgrims and lifesaving Indians, we continue to celebrate the feast. Now we call it Thanksgiving. Caitlyn: Today our Thanksgiving is a feast and a day to give thanks. Jill: The Pilgrims and Indians celebrated for three whole days. Audrey: Now our Thanksgiving lasts only one day. Joey: The first Thanksgiving was in October in the year 1621. Mary: Now Thanksgiving is celebrated every year on the last Thursday in November. Hayley: At the first Thanksgiving they ate boiled pumpkins for dessert. Greg: But now we get to have pumpkin pie! Joey: In 1863, President Abraham Lincoln made Thanksgiving a national holiday. Please join us for our Thanksgiving celebration.