Thanksgiving Today

Thanksgiving Part 2

How do we celebrate Thanksgiving now in the United States?

As you may already know, food is a very important part of Thanksgiving. On that Thursday (remember, the fourth Thursday of November), we spend all day cooking one very big meal. Normally, Americans eat lunch at about noon (12 o'clock), but on Thanksgiving we generally eat at about 2 or 3 in the afternoon (between 14h and 15h). We eat a lot of food--so much food that we usually don't have dinner. 

What do we typically eat?

Turkey is the most important part of a Thanksgiving meal. Most people roast their turkey (cook it in the oven), but some people prefer their turkeys deep-fried in oil. 

Inside the turkey, you can see some brown cubes. These are pieces of dried bread that absorb the juices from the turkey. Because we "stuff" (fill) turkey with this bread, we call it stuffing. We add spices and vegetables to the stuffing for extra flavor.

Another typical Thanksgiving dish is the green bean casserole. A casserole is a type of "pot" you use to cook things in the oven. The green bean casserole is made by mixing green beans, a creamy mushroom soup, and fried onion pieces. Then, you cook everything in the oven. 

The yellow bowl is called a casserole

We also eat mashed potatoes with gravy, a type of meat sauce.

There is another type of potato that we eat on Thanksgiving: the sweet potato.

I love sweet potatoes

Like mashed potatoes, we also make a puree of mashed sweet potatoes. However, we add marshmallows on top and cook it in the oven. It is very sweet, but it isn't a dessert (how strange!).

In the United States, it isn't typical to eat bread with your food. But, on Thanksgiving, we normally have round pieces of bread called "rolls", sometimes with a little bit of butter. 

To drink, we usually have apple cider. Don't confuse this with the Spanish cider (or sidra). This cider hasn't got any alcohol, so kids can drink it. It is basically a type of carbonated (with "gas") apple juice.

And yes, you can see all of these foods on one plate during a Thanksgiving meal. So what do we do after eating so much [delicious] food? We have dessert, of course! No Thanksgiving feast is complete without pie. There are many different types of pie: apple, cherry, blueberry, pecan, chocolate, banana-cream, and my favorite--pumpkin. 

Thanksgiving at my House

Now I live in Spain, but when I lived in the United States I always celebrated Thanksgiving with my family. Even when I was far away from home and studying at University (6 hours from my parent's house), I always travelled home to be with my mom, dad, and sister. Here are some photos I took from my Thanksgiving 

My mom, carving the turkey

You can see the turkey in the background, the sweet potato casserole, the green bean casserole, asparagus, and a pot of gravy in the foreground.

On my plate: rolls, aspargus, turkey with gravy, stuffing, sweet potatoes and green bean casserole.

What else do we do on Thanksgiving?

There are also some other traditions on Thanksgiving. At 9:00 am (in the morning) in New York City there is a big parade called the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. It has been celebrated since 1924! 

There are floats, marching bands, famous singers, and giant balloons!

On Thanksgiving, there is always a football game. No, not like the "football" in Europe. American football, where you throw an egg-shaped ball. Football is the most popular sport in the United States, and watching a game on Thanksgiving is traditional for many families.

American football

The next day...

The end of Thanksgiving also is the beginning of Christmas celebrations in the United States. Many shops in America have special sales very early in the morning on the Friday after Thanksgiving, so that people can go shopping for Christmas presents. Some people even wait outside of stores very early in the morning to buy things. We call this "holiday" Black Friday.

Being Thankful

Of course, the most important thing about Thanksgiving isn't the food, or the Christmas shopping; the most important thing is remembering all the wonderful things we are thankful for. That's why we call it Thanksgiving (and not Foodgiving nor Shoppinggiving). 

What does it mean to be "thankful"? It is when you appreciate something. Thanksgiving is a time to think of all the good things we have in our lives--things that make us happy. 

I am thankful for my family, who loves me even though I live very far away. I am thankful for my friends, who can always make me smile. I am thankful to be at a lovely school with such clever students and teachers. 

What are you thankful for?

HAPPY THANKSGIVING!

(5º SCIENCE) The Respiratory System

Maria has already posted a very useful link to study different science topics. From that same website, you can learn about the respiratory system. There are activities, quizzes, and a video that you can watch to help you understand this unit. Have a look!

Kids Health Respiratory System

Want more? If you liked the last Magic School Bus video, you will like this! In this episode, we learn how exercise affects the body. You will see both the respiratory and circulatory systems, and how they help our body work properly.

Link to Youtube Video

SCIENCE FOR YOU!!!! YOUR WEB PAGE TO STUDY SYSTEMS!!!!

Hello everybody!!! We are thinking about you, that's why we have posted an exciting web page to help you study systems in your body. Please have a look at it and have fun!!!! (please,copy the following web page in google and start learning!!) http://kidshealth.org/kid/

OR, click the link below

Kids' Health

The History of Thanksgiving

I am only going to talk about Thanksgiving in the USA, as Canadians also celebrate their own version of Thanksgiving in October. 

Thanksgiving is an important American holiday that occurs between Halloween and Christmas. Unlike other holidays, Thanksgiving doesn't fall on a specific date (for example, the 31st of October or 25th of December). Instead, we celebrate it every 4th Thursday in November. Thanksgiving is always on a Thursday. This year, we will celebrate Thanksgiving on the 28th of November. The date changes every year (next year it will be on the 27th of November 2014).

History

How did Thanksgiving begin? Before the United States was a country, Pilgrims travelled to the continent of North America. They wanted to leave Europe to freely practice their own religion--Protestantism. The Pilgrims arrived in the north-eastern part of the Americas in what is now called Jamestown.

Winter in this part of the Americas is often very cold. Many Pilgrims died. In the spring of 1621 they asked the Native American tribe for help. The Native Americans had been living in that area for hundreds of years. They knew how to farm, hunt, and fish. They shared their knowledge with the Pilgrims. In the autumn of 1621, the Pilgrims and the Native Americans had a meal together to celebrate a successful harvest (when you collect the fruits and vegetables or "crops"). 

The first Thanksgiving meal didn't have the same traditional foods we eat today. There wasn't any turkey, potatoes, or pumpkin pie! Instead, they ate other roasted meats (such as deer, rabbit, etc), corn, shellfish (such as lobster, mussles, etc), and cranberries: foods that were available at the time. 

However, in 1621 they didn't call this meal "Thanksgiving." It didn't become a national holiday until 1863 (over 200 years later!), when President Abraham Lincoln declared that Americans would celebrate it every fourth Thursday in November. He said it was a holiday for "giving thanks," or remembering the things we appreciate in our lives. 

President Lincoln

Americans still "give thanks" every November. So now we know how it was celebrated in the beginning, but how do we celebrate Thanksgiving today?

TO BE CONTINUED...

Want to learn more? Check out these links:

National Geographic

USA for Kids

PET Practice

Are you nervous about taking the PET exam? Do you want extra practice? This link has excellent vocabulary review to help you learn or revise words for the exam. There are also games using those words. Have a look!

Vocabulary Trainer

(5º SCIENCE) Digestion Video: Magic School Bus- For Lunch

Link to Youtube Video

In the video, Arnold tries to break a school record (do the most of something). Meanwhile (at the same time), the rest of the class goes on a field trip into his digestive system. It doesn't cover everything we've learned in this unit, but it's a fun way to review.

(6º SCIENCE) Geography of Europe

Hannah has once again done a lovely presentation about European relief. This will help you study for the test. Enjoy!

Geography of Europe

(6º SCIENCE) Contemporary Age Presentation

Here are the two presentations on the Contemporary Age by Hannah (from last year).

Contemporary Age 1

Contemporary Age 2

This is Halloween

Halloween is one of my favorite American holidays (although I prefer Christmas). Families decorate their houses in preparation for trick-or-treating children on the 31st of October.

Some people have very elaborate decorations...

These people really love Halloween

My house (in California) on Halloween

And some people may only put out one pumpkin in front of their house. Carving (cutting) pumpkins to make jack-o-lanterns is another Halloween tradition. In the United States you can buy specific tools (kits) to help carve the perfect pumpkin.

Me, carving a pumpkin

Some pumpkins I have carved

We can also call carved pumpkins "jack-o-lanterns"

Costumes are also an important part of Halloween. Children dress up and go from house to house asking for candy. We call it "trick-or-treating." This is mostly for kids, but adults still can have fun dressing up. I like scary costumes best.

WARNING: THIS NEXT PICTURE SHOWS MY FRIENDS AND I DRESSED AS ZOMBIES. WE LOOK GROSS AND BLOODY, BUT IT'S ONLY MAKE-UP. IF YOU DON'T WANT TO SEE IT, GO TO THE NEXT PICTURE.

No assistants were harmed in the making of these costumes

Of course, not all costumes have to be scary. Kids can be princesses, princes, fairies, animals: Anything you can imagine! When I was a baby, I even dressed up as an M&M (the chocolate candy). Halloween is about pretending to be someone else for a day.

I was a bunny

At school, the students have also been working hard to decorate the building. Here are some photos of the very talented 6B students and their Halloween poster.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN