The first Thanksgiving 1621 / J.L.G. Ferris.

In the first grade, students understand chronological sequencing of events by creating basic timelines. Students participate in shared research using biographies and informational text the contributions of historic figures in American history including Squanto, the Pilgrims, George Washington, Benjamin Franklin, Paul Revere, Thomas Jefferson, Meriwether Lewis, William Clark, Sacagawea, Daniel Boone, Abraham Lincoln, and George Washington Carver. Students identify the significance of historic places and monuments and describe their connection to real events of the past including the Plimoth Plantation, Mount Vernon, Washington Monument, Lincoln Memorial. Students commemorate the contributions to the American nation of significant groups including National Hispanic History Month, Native American Heritage Month, and Black History Month.

In the United States Thanksgiving is observed on the fourth Thursday in November. In Canada - on the second Monday of October. The tradition of Thanksgiving started with the Pilgrims who settled at Plymouth, Massachusetts. They first held a celebration of their harvest in 1621. The first national Thanksgiving Day was proclaimed by President George Washington in 1789. It became a holiday in 1863 when Abraham Lincoln declared that the last Thursday in November should be celebrated as Thanksgiving. Since then it has been celebrated every year and is an official federal holiday that was moved to the fourth Thursday of November in 1941 by President Franklin Roosevelt. Many cities have large parades on Thanksgiving Day. Perhaps the largest and most famous parade is the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade in New York City. Another popular way to spend the day is watching NFL football. The traditional food for the Thanksgiving meal includes a turkey, cranberry sauce, potatoes, sweet potato casserole, stuffing, vegetables, and pumpkin pie. Each year a live turkey is presented to the President of the United States who then "pardons" the turkey and it gets to live out its life on a farm.