With Thanksgiving just around the corner, you have a splendid opportunity to teach your students historical, social, and cultural lessons that surround this celebrated holiday. However, before you reach into your trusty lesson book, could those historical "facts" really be myths? Learn more about the five most prevalent Thanksgiving myths, which your students will love dispelling at the dinner table with their family.

Myth #1: The Pilgrims Started Thanksgiving

Nearly all students, regardless of their age, generally envision our nation's first Thanksgiving as a gathering of Pilgrims and Native Americans. While this is a common belief, the Pilgrims were not the first groups of Americans to host this holiday! According to historical reports, the citizens of San Elizario, Texas held the very first Thanksgiving in the year of 1598 - three decades before the pilgrims hosted their Thanksgiving dinner! The Texans beat Pilgrims to this tradition by hosting the first Thanksgiving in honor of Juan de Onate. Known for leading hundreds of settlers across hundreds of miles in the Mexican Desert, Juan de Onate was a celebrated "hero," inspiring the very first gathering over 400 years ago!

Myth # 2: The Pilgrims Feasted on Turkey

While many children and adults refer to Thanksgiving as "Turkey Day," the pilgrims may have been confused by this holiday nickname. According to reports, once the Pilgrims began celebrating the Thanksgiving holiday, their menu for the event was far different from what most Americans believe. Unlike modern Thanksgivings, full of corn on the cob, turkey, and cranberry sauce, there is no clear evidence to neither support nor refute whether or not Pilgrims even ate turkey! In fact, evidence only proves that the Pilgrims ate deer for this annual meal.

Myth #3: Thanksgiving is Always on a Thursday in November

Modern families enjoy a day away from school or work on the third Thursday of each November to celebrate Thanksgiving. However, our nation once celebrated two different Thanksgiving holidays! In 1863, President Lincoln ordered that Thanksgiving should be celebrated in both August and November. Before this proclamation, most Americans outside of the New England regions never even celebrated the holiday!

Myth #4: Pilgrims Only Wore Black Outfits, Buckled Shoes, and Hats

Ask your students to imagine pilgrim attire, and most will describe black outfits with white cuffs topped with hats and accented with buckle shoes. Contrary to common belief, the Pilgrims did not dress entirely in black. Instead, Pilgrims did wear an abundance of solid colors, including red, violet, green, and blue. They also did not wear the quintessential "Pilgrim hat" often displayed in Thanksgiving images, nor did they wear distinct buckled shoes. In fact, this type of apparel did not even appear on the fashion scene until 1632. The wardrobe misconceptions have been perpetuated by illustrations of Pilgrims published over time. The earliest pictures of Pilgrims were created in this type of dress to reveal the Pilgrims' devotion to more simplistic habits and lifestyles - but this does not mean they dressed in the attire we imagine today.

Myth #5: Pilgrims and Puritans are the Same People

When studying history, Pilgrims and Puritans are often confused. However, Pilgrims and Puritans are two very distinct groups. Pilgrims, the group that landed in Plymouth onboard the Mayflower, arrived nearly 10 years before Puritans settled in Boston. Not only do these two groups of settlers differ in location and in date of arrival, but components of their cultural values, goals, and ideals are different as well. The largest difference between the Pilgrims and the Puritans is that the latter did not hold the intention of breaking away from the Anglican Church. There are certainly many history lessons that surround Thanksgiving, but this holiday, excite your students by dispelling the myths!