What a Waste!

The holidays are coming up: getting together with family and eating. Lots of eating.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• to get wasted - to get thrown away even when something is still okay to use or consume
• yams - sweet potatoes
• turkey - a large bird grown for its meat on farms
• to discard - to throw away
• to overdo it - to do too much of something or to do it in an extreme way
• leftovers - food that has not been finished at a meal and that is often served at another meal
• inevitably - sure to happen
• landfill - an area where waste is buried under the ground
• shelter - a place that provides food and protection for people that need help, for example homeless people

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. What happens with lots of the food that make up our Thanksgiving or Christmas dinners?


2. What happens when people don’t plan their meals properly?


3. What makes up the largest component in landfills?


4. What can you do with leftovers instead of throwing them in the garbage?


5. What can you do to prevent having (lots of) leftovers?

Thanksgiving

On 24 November 2016, people in the U.S. will celebrate Thanksgiving. For many Americans this holiday is just as important as Christmas. They get together with family and friends and have a special dinner.

Read the following words and phrases and their definitions.

• mix-up - a mistake caused by confusion about something
• random - without a particular plan or pattern
• chance encounter - a meeting that is not planned or expected
• blow up - suddenly become really large or important

First read the assignment. Next watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. What happened to Jamal in class?


2. How did Jamal at first explain the mix-up?


3. What will Jamal be doing on 24 November?

Pardoning the Thanksgiving Turkey

National Thanksgiving Turkey Presentation is a ceremony that takes place at the White House every year shortly before Thanksgiving. It all began in 1947. Since 1989 it has also been an annual tradition for the president to "pardon" the turkey.

Watch the video for this year’s pardoning of the turkey.

Read the following words and expressions and their definitions.

• pardon - to officially say that someone who is guilty of a crime will be allowed to go free and will not be punished
• a fierce competition between a bunch of turkeys - a lot of turkeys trying to achieve the same thing
• wing your way in - try to find a place for yourselves
• solely - only
• indulge - to patiently allow someone to do or say something
• a round of applause - a short period of applause by everyone present

Read the assignment, then watch the video. Take notes to help you do the assignment.

1. What have many turkeys been trying in the past months?


2. What does “TOTUS” stand for?


3. Why does Obama thank Malia and Sasha?


4. How often has Obama as a president pardoned a turkey?


5. “Time flies, even if turkeys don’t.”
   Explain what this sentence means.
   Do you get why everybody is laughing about it?

Thanksgiving Holiday

On Thursday, November 26, Thanksgiving will be celebrated throughout the United States. See this post for a related video and assignment.

Photo credit: Emily Mills, Flickr, Creative Commons, some rights reserved

Thanksgiving month

In the United States, November is Thanksgiving month. Thanksgiving is a day of giving thanks for the blessing of the harvest and of the preceding year. The first American Thanksgiving was celebrated in 1621. The colonists celebrated the day in the spirit of traditional English harvest festivals. The local Wampanoag Indians were invited to take part in the celebration, as well.
Over time, different views on the events and meaning of Thanksgiving emerged. We Shall Remain is a television series which focusses on this and related topics.

First read the assignment. Next watch the series' preview. Take notes to help you do the assigment.

1. Focus on this quotation: "We were about to be obliterated culturally." Explain in your own words what it means.


2. Focus on this quotation: "It was done to them. So they did it back." Explain what it means in this context.


3. Fill in the rest of the quote: "Too remarkable, too inspiring ......." Translate the complete quote. Aim for a catchy phrase in Dutch that conveys the same message.


4. How are the origins of the series' title ("We Shall Remain") explained towards the end of the clip?

Extra reading and speaking assignment

A

1. Read the short article about the two sides of Thanksgiving history.


2. Work in a group or as a class. Discuss what the difference in Thanksgiving is for Native American Indians and other people in the United States today.

B
All discussion leads back to the myths and facts regarding the First Thanksgiving. In 1899, it inspired Jean Leon Gerome Ferris to create his now famous depiction of events, called The First Thanksgiving 1621. The painting shows common misconceptions about the event that persist to modern times: Pilgrims did not wear such outfits, and the Wampanoag are dressed in the style of Native Americans from the Great Plains.

1. What does the expression "common misconceptions" mean?


2. Name one or more common misconceptions about your own country or traditions.

This image is available from the United States Library of Congress's Prints and Photographs division under the digital ID cph.3g04961