3rd Grade Levelled Reading: Levels L-O worksheets

The Mystery Photo

Andre helped at the town history museum every Saturday morning. His favorite job was sorting old photos that families had given to the museum. Each photo needed a label that told who was in it, where it was taken, and when.

One faded photo showed a group of workers outside a brick factory. Its old label said only Factory Workers. There was no date and there were no names. Andre wanted to know more.

He studied the photo closely with a big magnifying glass. At the edge, he spotted a delivery truck. A company name was painted on its side: Miller Bread. Andre searched the museum's old newspapers for that name. He found an ad for Miller Bread. Another article said the company had closed in 1952.

"So the photo must be older than 1952," Andre said to himself.

Next, he noticed that the workers' shirts had a small star on the pocket. He looked through other factory photos in the collection. One photo showed the same star on the same kind of shirt. That photo was labeled 1948.

Andre took his notes to Ms. Okafor, who was in charge of the museum's records. She read them carefully. Then she pulled out an old city book that listed every business in town. The factory had been at that address from 1940 to 1950.

"Your clues fit together," Ms. Okafor said. "1948 is a very good guess."

Andre wrote a new label: Factory Workers, about 1948. Under it, he listed his clues: the bread truck, the star on the shirts and the city book.

Ms. Okafor asked Andre to help with three more photos the next week. On the way home, Andre told his little sister about the mystery. "History is like a puzzle," he said. "Every small clue is a piece." His sister asked if she could come next Saturday.