First Thanksgiving Meal (Readworks Article)

What event inspired today's tradition of the Thanksgiving feast?

• a meal held by English settlers in Virginia that mostly consisted of different kinds of seafood

• the cultivation of the potato by the Incan civilization in South America

• the arrival of the Pilgrims in North America after a difficult time at sea

• an autumn celebration and shared meal between the Pilgrims and the Wampanoag tribe

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The article provides information by using a list. What does it list?

• Thanksgiving food

• places where clams can be found

• birds served at the feast in 1621

• four men who went on a "fowling" mission

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The food often served at Thanksgiving today differs from the food served at the feast in 1621.

What evidence from the article supports this statement?

• "For many Americans, the Thanksgiving meal includes seasonal dishes such as roast turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce, mashed potatoes, and pumpkin pie."

• "While no records exist of the exact bill of fare, the Pilgrim chronicler Edward Winslow noted in his journal that the colony’s governor, William Bradford, sent four men on a 'fowling' mission in preparation for the three-day event."

• "The 1621 celebration marked the Pilgrims’ first autumn harvest, so it is likely that the colonists feasted on the bounty they had reaped with the help and guidance of the Wampanoag."

• "Culinary historians believe that much of the Pilgrims' and Wampanoags' meal consisted of seafood, which is often absent from today’s menus."

What are some foods that were probably eaten at the 1621 feast?

• cranberry sauce, corn on the cob, and mashed potatoes

• deer, beans, and mussels

• turkey, sweet potatoes, and pumpkin pie

• ducks, geese, and roasted potatoes

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What is the main idea of this article?

• There are differences between the food served at the event that inspired today's Thanksgiving feast and Thanksgiving food today.

• Blueberries, plums, grapes, gooseberries, raspberries, and cranberries are all indigenous to New England.

• Potatoes were not served at the autumn harvest celebration in 1621, but there may have been Indian turnips and groundnuts.

• Early English settlers in North America may have hollowed out pumpkins and filled the shells with milk, honey, and spices.

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Read this paragraph from the article.

“Whether mashed or roasted, white or sweet, potatoes had no place at the 1621 feast. These tubers were actually native to South America, where they were cultivated by the Incas. The Spanish, after invading South America and encountering the potato, began introducing it to Europeans around 1570. But by the time the Pilgrims boarded the Mayflower, the tuber had neither doubled back to North America nor become popular enough with the English to hitch a ride. The Native people of New England’s are known to have eaten other plant roots such as Indian turnips and groundnuts, which they may or may not have brought to the shared meal.”

What does the phrase "nor become popular enough with the English to hitch a ride" tell readers about the potato?

• People in England preferred eating Indian turnips and groundnuts to eating potatoes.

• People in England were planning to take the potato with them to North America but changed their minds.

• People in England did not like the potato enough to bring it with them when they came to North America.

• People in England did not like eating potatoes because the potato had been introduced to Europe by the Spanish.

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Read these sentences from the text.

“Wild turkey was indeed plentiful in the region and a common food source for both local Native American tribes like the Wampanoag and the English settlers. But it is just as likely that the fowling party returned with other birds we know the colonists regularly consumed, such as ducks, geese and swans.”

What word could replace "But" without changing the meaning of the sentences?

• Particularly,

• However,

• Previously,

• Finally,

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The Pilgrims celebrated their first successful harvest and their survival in an unfamiliar land in 1621 by holding a feast and inviting members of the Wampanoag tribe.

• True

• False

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