Lesson 3 memories - PBS

Baseball Memories

Grade: 6-10

Subject: History, Language Arts

Introduction: In this lesson, students investigate the impact of baseball on prior generations through an "oral history" exercise; that is, interviewing a parent, grandparent, or other older relative about attending major or minor league baseball games with a relative or friend.

Background: Before beginning the lesson, the teacher may wish to introduce it by having students view various segments (many at the beginning of each of the episodes) where celebrities reminisce about viewing baseball games. Examples would be recollections by author Studs Terkel, comedian Billy Crystal, and historian Doris Kearns Goodwin. Terkel, for example, discusses Babe Ruth's "called shot" home run against the Chicago Cubs in the 1932 World Series, while Crystal and Goodwin discuss their affection for the New York Yankees and Brooklyn Dodgers, respectively. Crystal and Goodwin also note the family loyalties of baseball in the film. See Goodwin's essay, "Fan" at the end of this lesson.

The teacher may also note that historically in literature and in films, baseball has been used as a way to cement the "bond" between parent and child as a shared experience, and that frequently team loyalty (or rivalries) have been handed down from generation to generation.

In this lesson, students will act as historians, and will collect "oral history" information from relatives and neighbors who have recollections of attending either major league or minor league baseball games. They can either report on these recollections in class, or they may wish to collect and make them available online on the school Web page.

The teacher should next discuss the impact of oral history on the overall study of history, and may wish to lead the class in a review of similar oral history projects, most notably, the Slave Narratives from the Federal Writers' Project (1936-1938), which are now housed in the Library of Congress. The Web site for the Slave Narratives collection is .

Once the discussion on the impact of oral history is concluded, the teacher will want to discuss the specific Baseball Memories project. One way the teacher might introduce the project to students is through a statement such as this:

"For many adults, there is no stronger memory than going with their parents or grandparents to a major or minor league baseball game. It often is a defining moment in their lives."

Explain to students their assignment is to select an adult to interview, create a list of questions you think are appropriate to ask regarding what they recall about attending their first big league ballgame, interview that person, and report their findings back to the class.

(Note: Depending on the age-level and ability level of the class, the teacher may elect to create a question set personally and direct students to ask those questions. A sample questionnaire sheet is provided below.)

Next, either distribute the question sheets or ask students to begin to consider what questions they might wish to ask their interview subjects. If the teacher elects to have students write their own questions, it is suggested that the teacher actively assist students in that task.

Once students have generated questions, they can actually interview their oral history subjects. The teacher will want to allot adequate time for the students to contact interview subjects and ask questions. Also, the teacher may wish to allow students to not only record responses in writing, but also in audio-visual forms, such as audiocassettes or videotape.

WRAP-UP

At the end of the project, the teacher can ask students to either play their recorded interviews, or report back to the class in regard to what information their subjects shared.

Resources: Major League Baseball (The Official Site) )

The Major League Baseball "History" page

John Skilton's Baseball Links

National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum ()

The Baseball Almanac

Baseball-

Minor League Baseball

Exploratorium "Science of Baseball"

The Field Museum, Chicago, "Baseball As America"

Links for examples of oral histories

Holt, Rinehart, and Winston )

The University of California (Berkley) "One Minute" oral history checklist

"A Farm Girl Plays Baseball" ()

The American Memory section of the Library of Congress ()

Standards:

This addresses national content standards established by the Mid-Continent Research for Education and Learning (McREL) ()

History Understands that specific individuals and the values those individuals held had an impact on history

Knows different types of primary and secondary sources and the motives, interests, and bias expressed in them (e.g., eyewitness accounts, letters, diaries, artifacts, photos; magazine articles, newspaper accounts, hearsay)

Understands that change and continuity are equally probable and natural

Language Arts Generates questions about topics of personal interest

Gathers data for research topics from interviews (e.g., prepares and asks relevant questions, makes notes of responses, compiles responses)

About the Author: Michael Hutchison teaches social studies at Lincoln High School in Vincennes, Indiana, and at Vincennes University. In 1998, Compaq named Michael a firstplace prizewinner in its Teacher Lesson Plan contest, and in 1999, Michael was named the Midwest regional winner in Technology & Learning magazine's Teacher of the Year program. In 2002, Michael was named "Teacher of the Year" by the Indiana Computer Educators and "Technology-Using Teacher of the Year" by the International Society for Technology in Education. In addition, Michael hosts a weekly social studies forum for TAPPED IN, works as a staff member for ED Oasis, and serves as a faculty member of Connected University, as well as a member of the PBS TeacherSource Advisory Group and has written curriculum for several PBS programs, including The Civil War and Empire of the Air.

Baseball Memories Interview sheet

Introduction: Please help me by answering the following questions. I will be asking you questions about your experiences attending baseball games, and your recollections of those games. What is your name? What is your age? What was he first baseball game you attended? What year was it? What teams played? How old were you?

What stadium was the game played in?

Which team won the game? Do you remember the score?

Who did you attend the game with?

What are some of your favorite recollections about seeing this game?

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