Upon entering the classroom this morning, students screeched with excitement when they saw, History Mystery Lesson, on the schedule for the day. I was excited at their reaction, because this is one of my favorite primary sources to use with my kindergarten class. It is filled with rich details that the students can connect with, describe, and develop questions around.

Here is the primary source: https://www.loc.gov/item/2011649528/

I began the lesson by setting up the following scenario: You are historians and today you found an old suitcase in the attic of an old house. You opened the suitcase and uncovered this magazine cover. You saw it was from 105 years ago!

The History Mystery – What is happening in the image and why is this particular image on this cover? Once that mystery is solved, we’ll discuss what you can learn from this image and then compare the past to the present.

The image was attached to a clipboard. Each student took their clipboard and found a comfortable spot for quiet, independent analyzing. After about 5 minutes, students gathered together on the carpet, we turned the lights off, and viewed a large rendition of the image on the SmartBoard.

All students would be given the opportunity to share a detail they saw. I had to choose one girl first. She could not contain her excitement.

“What do you see? I asked.

“I see April 10 and you know today is April”  “That’s right,” I said. “Today is April 10^th!”

All the students were drawn in and excited about this one revelation! I wish I had my camera to take a picture of all the excited, intrigued faces in the room! What a coincidence! I forgot that detail when planning the lesson, so I was amazed as well!

 Students shared more details:

• “25 cent seats”
• “a window with a board”
• “a boy”
• “a stray dog”
• “rain”
• “a locked door”
• “food”
• “a boy waiting”

All the time, I reminded the students to remember the detail – "April 10th."

Finally, one girl said, “I see a boy waiting for a game.”

“What type of game do you think he is waiting for?” I asked.

“A baseball game.”

“How do you know that?”, I asked.

“Because I just knew it. Because I watch baseball.”

We focused on the sign labeled: Green Socks vs. Pink Socks and all agreed the boy was waiting for a baseball game.

I applauded their success at solving the History Mystery!

We discussed why this image was on the April cover of the magazine. We discussed how much a ticket for a baseball game would cost today and students had to turn and ask a buddy if they would wait in the rain for a baseball game.

Final question: Did children like to go to baseball games 105 years ago? Why or why not and support your answers with details from the image.

We sang, Take Me Out to the Ballgame, and we wrote a class poem about baseball because it is National Poetry Month.