In a history class, students typically listen to the teacher lecture, read from their textbook, then take a test. Although they may sometimes be required to memorize information or read stories about historical events and people, they rarely work with other students, use original documents, write term papers, or discuss the significance of what they are studying. The authors of this paper believe that history should be transformative, not boring. Students should be challenged, and teachers should provide conceptual frames of reference to make history meaningful. To understand the relationship between past and present, students must practice the fundamental skills of the historian. These fundamental skills include: (1) chronological thinking; (2) historical analysis of cause and effect; and (3) discussion, debate, and persuasive writing. This article describes a lesson plan, "The Mystery of Sam Smiley," that may be used to begin to address such skills with students. It supports the development of strategies that enable students to: (1) explore historical questions; (2) comprehend and work with ideas from various sources; (3) recognize accounts; and (4) construct explanations and narratives that reveal an understanding of historical context and chronology. This lesson could be used as an introduction before any unit of study that utilizes primary documents and asks students to participate in analyzing them. It is appropriate, with some modification, for both upper elementary and middle school social studies classrooms. (Contains 13 endnotes.)