Tonight’s holiday is about saying thank you. On the fourth Thursday of November, American families travel across the country to eat turkey together and give thanks for the year.
Learn from Songs · Festivals: American Holidays · Part 2 of 3 · B1–B2
Thanksgiving: Johnny Cash
Part 2: Thanksgiving, the fourth Thursday of November, with turkey, pumpkin pie, family and football, its history from Plymouth in 1621 to Abraham Lincoln, and the two ways Americans remember it, with a spoken prayer by Johnny Cash. The language of gratitude (be grateful for, thank someone for -ing, thanks to), prepositions + -ing, the passive for history (it was declared a national holiday in 1863), with Philo, Sophia, Marcos and Demetria.
SOPHIA
MARCOS
Turkey and pie? I’m thankful already.
SOPHIA
Of course you are, Marcos. But the history of Thanksgiving is more complicated than the pictures in schoolbooks, and Americans tell it in two ways. Our piece is a short spoken prayer of thanks by Johnny Cash, the “Man in Black”.
PHILO
Giving thanks is the beginning of wisdom.
Before you listen: the song
Plymouth, 1621, and America today
In 1620, a group of English Protestants, later called the Pilgrims, sailed to America on the Mayflower and founded Plymouth Colony in what is now Massachusetts. Half of them died in the first winter. The local Wampanoag people, led by Massasoit, made an alliance with them, and a Native American called Squanto, who spoke English, helped them to grow corn. In autumn 1621, after their first harvest, the colonists held a three-day feast, and about ninety Wampanoag men joined them. This is remembered as the “first Thanksgiving”.
Days of thanksgiving were held often in early America, but it was the writer Sarah Josepha Hale who campaigned for years for a national holiday. In 1863, during the Civil War, President Abraham Lincoln declared it a national day of thanksgiving. Today families eat turkey with stuffing, cranberry sauce and pumpkin pie, watch the Macy’s parade in New York and American football, and the President “pardons” a turkey. Two views: for most Americans it is a day of family and gratitude; but since 1970, some Native Americans have gathered at Plymouth on the same day for a National Day of Mourning, to remember the land and lives their peoples lost after the colonists arrived.
Our piece: Johnny Cash (1932–2003), the great country singer, grew up poor on a cotton farm in Arkansas during the Great Depression, and he never forgot it. His “Thanksgiving Prayer” is spoken, not sung: a simple prayer of thanks for food, family and home.
Gratitude is a habit, not just a holiday.
Listen: a prayer of thanks
PHILO
Listen to Johnny Cash. Is he singing or speaking? What is he thankful for? How does his voice sound?
SOPHIA
Then answer Section A.
🦃 Listen to the song: “Thanksgiving Prayer”, by Johnny Cash.Find a recording →
📜 Read the words while you listen: “Thanksgiving Prayer”, Johnny Cash.Read the lyrics →
The language of gratitude
MARCOS
I’m grateful for my family. I’m thankful for this meal. Thank you for helping me. Thanks to the Wampanoag, the colonists survived.
SOPHIA
grateful / thankful for + noun / -ing. thank someone for + -ing. thanks to + noun = because of (a good result). I really appreciate your help.
Prepositions + -ing
DEMETRIA
Thank you for coming. We’re looking forward to seeing you. She’s good at cooking. Before eating, they gave thanks.
SOPHIA
After a preposition (for, at, about, before, after, without, to in look forward to), the verb takes -ing: without saying a word.
The passive for history
PHILO
The colony was founded in 1620. The feast was held in 1621. Thanksgiving was declared a national holiday in 1863. Turkey is eaten all over the country.
SOPHIA
was / were + past participle for historical events; is / are + past participle for customs today. Add by for the person: It was declared by Abraham Lincoln.
Sophia’s comparison: Tabernacles, and the harvest home
PHILO
Our autumn harvest festival is Sukkot, Tabernacles: for seven days we live in little huts of branches and give thanks for the harvest, and remember that our ancestors lived in huts in the desert. The Torah says: you shall rejoice in your feast.
SOPHIA
And our farmers in Greece offer the first fruits of the harvest to Demeter, and the whole village feasts together. Every farming people knows that the harvest is a gift, not a right.
Sophia’s summary
| Words and forms | Use | Example |
|---|---|---|
| grateful / thankful for + noun / -ing | gratitude | I’m grateful for my family. |
| thank someone for + -ing | thanking | Thank you for helping me. |
| thanks to + noun | because of (good result) | Thanks to them, they survived. |
| preposition + -ing | verbs after prepositions | before eating, without saying |
| was declared / was held | the passive for history | It was declared a holiday in 1863. |
Practice
Listen to the song for Section A, then do the rest. Press “Check my answers” at the end. You can try again as many times as you like.
A · Listen: the song
Listen to the song and choose the best answer.
1. When is Thanksgiving?
2. Who helped the Pilgrims survive?
3. When was the feast remembered as the first Thanksgiving?
4. Who made Thanksgiving a national holiday in 1863?
5. What do some Native Americans hold at Plymouth on Thanksgiving?
6. Is Johnny Cash singing in the “Thanksgiving Prayer”?
B · Grammar and vocabulary
Write the missing word or words.
7. I’m grateful my family.
8. Thank you for me. (help)
9. to the Wampanoag, the colonists survived.
10. We’re looking forward to you. (see)
11. Thanksgiving was a national holiday in 1863. (declare)
12. Turkey is all over the country. (eat)
C · Right or wrong?
Is the sentence correct English?
13. “Thank you for help me.”
14. “I’m grateful for this meal.”
15. “Thanks to the rain, the match was cancelled.” (a bad result)
16. “The feast was held in 1621.”
Talk and write
Discussion and writing
Gratitude list. Write five things you are grateful for and thank one person in the class for something, using the language of gratitude.
Discuss. 1. Can a holiday be a celebration for some and a day of mourning for others? How should a country remember its history? 2. Is gratitude a habit we can learn? 3. Does your country have a harvest festival?
Write (120–150 words). A thank-you letter. Write to someone who has helped you, using grateful for, thank you for + -ing and thanks to.
Now play the gamebook: newcomers, a harvest feast, and the people who were there first.Play the gamebook →