Pilgrims Face Competition in Thanksgiving Lessons

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

The fourth Thursday in November is Thanksgiving Day in the United States. Tradition says early English settlers known as the Pilgrims held the first celebration in sixteen twenty-one in Plymouth, Massachusetts. They invited local Indians to a feast to thank them for help in surviving their first year in America.

Yet the Berkeley Plantation along the James River in Virginia calls itself the site of the first official Thanksgiving in America. In sixteen nineteen an English ship arrived with directions for the crew to observe their arrival date as a yearly day of thanksgiving to God.

But now comes a book called "America's REAL First Thanksgiving." A Florida schoolteacher, Robyn Gioia, tells the story of Spanish explorer Pedro Menendez who founded Saint Augustine, Florida. He celebrated with a thanksgiving feast with the native Timucua Indians. That was in fifteen sixty-five.

So what are schoolchildren learning these days about Thanksgiving?

Sharon Biros is a first-grade teacher in Clairton, Pennsylvania. Her students learn about the holiday as they discuss being good citizens. They read stories about the Indians and the Pilgrims. And the children tell what they are each thankful for.

Many of the families are poor. The school organizes a project in which students bring food and money to share with those in need.

Brook Levin heads a preschool in Broomall, Pennsylvania. She says the kids learn about native culture and the Pilgrims and how people at that time grew their own food. Thanksgiving, she says, is a good time to teach about the importance of sharing. The children make bread and other foods and invite their parents to school to enjoy them.

Cheryl Burrell is curriculum director for the public schools on the reservation of the Winnebago Indian tribe in Nebraska. She is not American Indian, and she says there is only one native teacher. But she says all the teachers are trained in native culture and history.

Students learn about the Pilgrims, she says, but not at Thanksgiving time. They learn about them when they study American history. Thanksgiving is used as a time to strengthen a sense of community.

She says most of the families in the tribe celebrate Thanksgiving just like other Americans do. But in addition the students take part in a traditional Indian harvest festival in October.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Steve Ember.

新教徒在感恩课上面临挑战

这里是VOA特别英语教育报道。

11月第一个星期四是在美国的感恩节。传统认为1621年作为新教徒的早期英国移民在马萨诸塞州普利茅斯首次庆祝感恩节。他们邀请当地印第安人参加宴会以表示感谢，帮助他们在美国第一年里生存下来。

在弗吉尼亚沿詹姆斯河畔的伯克利种植园称自己是美国首次正式感恩节的所在地。 1619年一艘英国船到达 船员观察到方向 以他们到达日 每年这一天感谢上帝。

不过现在有一本书《美国真正的第一个感恩节》。一名佛罗里达教师罗宾Gioia，讲述建立圣奥古斯丁佛罗里达的西班牙探险者佩德罗•梅伦德斯的故事。他与当地提默瓜印地安人以感恩宴会来庆祝。那是在1565年。

那么对于感恩节的这些日子，学生了解的有那些？

沙龙柏若丝是一年级教师在宾夕法尼亚州克莱顿。她的学生学习有关的节日，因为他们正在讨论成为好公民。他们读了关于印地安人和新教徒的故事。并且那些孩子告诉他们各自感谢什么。

很多数家庭贫穷。学校组织了一项活动，学生带食品和钱与那些需要者共同分享。

布鲁克莱文办有一所幼儿园在布鲁莫尔宾夕法尼亚州。

她说孩子了解当地文化和新教徒以及那时人们是如何种植他们自己的粮食的。她说，感恩节是教育孩子们懂得共同分享的重要性的好时机。孩子们做出面包和其他食品，并请他们的家长到学校来享用。

谢里尔•伯勒尔在内布拉斯加是在温尼贝戈印第安人部落的预定的公立学校的课程主管。她不是美洲印第安人，并且她说只有一名本地教师。但是她说全部教师已经进行了本地文化和历史的培训。

学生学习有关新教徒的内容，她说，并不是在感恩节期间，而是他们在学习美国历史的时候。感恩节常用作加强社会意识的时机。

她说大多家庭在部落里庆祝感恩节如同其他美国人。但另外，学生在10月参加一个传统的印第安收获节。

以上VOA特别英语教育报道，由南希·斯坦芭撰稿。我是史蒂夫·安贝。