How Did Thanksgiving Start.......?

  



   Thanksgiving Day is an American holiday celebrated on the fourth Thursday in November in the U.S. The first Thanksgiving was celebrated to give thanks to the English God in 1621 when the English colonists and native Wampanoag Indians, or native people of North America, ate together during the harvest celebration.

Although juicy and tender butterball turkeys are the main cuisine of today's Thanksgiving celebrations, these birds were NOT the most popular centerpieces on the first Thanksgiving tables in 1621.

     In 1621 when the Plymouth colonists and Wampanoag Indians celebrated the first Thanksgiving, they were gobbling up many more foods than just turkey. Since lobster, goose, duck, seal, eel, and cod were plentiful during this time, these foods were most likely the main courses of this first feast. Deer meat and wild fowl are the only two items that historians know for sure were menu of this autumn celebration.

     So how did the turkey become the main mascot of modern-day Thanksgiving if we don't know for certain that turkeys were at this first feast?

     One story tells of how Queen Elizabeth of 16th century England was chowing down on roast goose during a harvest festival. When news was delivered to her that the Spanish Armada had sunk on it way to attack her beloved England, the queen was so pleased that she order a second goose to celebrate the great news. Now, the goose is the favorite bird at harvest time in England. When the Pilgrims arrived in America from England, roasted turkey replaced roasted goose as the main cuisine because wild turkeys were more abundant and easier to find than geese.

- google searched at http://www.coolquiz.com/trivia/explain/docs/turkey.asp and http://www.suite101.com/content/how-did-thanksgiving-start-giving-thanks-for-creators-gifts-a272845

My Thanksgiving Traditions!

           

     "My Thanksgiving Traditions" are very similar to others. In the morning of Thanksgiving Day, my little brothers, my parents, and I watch the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York on television. In the afternoon, my family and I gather at my house or my grandparent's house and everyone feasts. Our meal usually includes turkey, stuffing, green beans, sweet potatoes, crescent rolls, mashed potatoes and gravy, cranberry sauce, apple salad, dill pickles, celery with peanut butter or cream cheese, and olives. It all tastes so good! After everyone eats, we usually play card or board games, watch sports on television, or eat desert! My grandma usually makes pumpkin and pecan pie for desert. I love Thanksgiving! Sometimes, we have to travel to different places and states to join other family members. For example, sometimes my family and I go to Hendersonville, North Carolina to visit my grandparents. All of this is what I do on Thanksgiving Day! This is my family and Thanksgiving Day tradition! 

Paper Prototyping

    
  





      My team's game topic is based on Pet Safety (social issue) and Exponents (math concept). The most important concept I want the players to learn would be my math concept which is exponents. I think this is the most important because many kids my age have trouble solving exponent problems and the idea of the game is particially to give them practice solving exponent equations. Animal Safety is important too though because it is important that people of all ages know how to treat animals right and safely. My ideas from Imagining Your Game came together by me deciding which ideas and links I like which will help me create the game. My team decided that the two topics would be on pet safety and exponents as the social issue and math concept because I like animals and think people should treat them fairly and I feel that my other classmates have trouble with exponents. My team role is to do everything because I am the only one in my team just like everyone else in my Globaloria7 class at Eastern Greenbrier Middle School. I researched links that gave tips and tricks of how to solve exponent equations and I also searched for links on animal safety and common household hazards for pets. The player of my game will take the action of making sure the pet of their choice is away from household hazards and if the player lets their pet get into a hazard, the pet must take a visit to the vet. By taking the pet to the vet, this should teach the player responsiblity of what to do when his or her pet is sick, hurt, etc. There will also be exponent problems to solve throughout the game. This action of the player has not changed since I began planning my game because I have always wanted the player to understand responsibility, pet safety and care, and exponents. I think the "convert to symbol" has been the most helpful in flash because it kind of lets you save your art and name it so you do not have to draw it again and again if you accidentally erase something or cut it. I located this resource by my teacher, Mrs. Sheppard, the first time my class used flash. I think coming up with lots of different household hazards for pets was the most difficult for me. I overcame this difficulty by searching more links on common household hazards known to pets.

Planning Your Game

   
      My team is called "Chocolate Fantasy" and I am the only member in this team. Everyone else in my class' teams only contain one person too. My role in creating the game is to do everything because I am the only person. This role may include creating the game by making my own characters, sounds, animations, illustrations, etc. in flash. I got the role of doing everything in my group because I am the only person in my group. I look forward to competing against other teams in my class and other schools to see who's game is the best. The greatest challenge about collaborative work is deciding on the same idea. I think you can overcome this by practicing accepting new ideas.