Lesson Plan - History Makers: The Wright Brothers

Watch a Video

Watch the video “History Takes Flight” and have students vote on three events from the video they think would be most important to include in a timeline about the history of flight.

Preview Words to Know

Project the online vocabulary slideshow and introduce the Words to Know.

• gliders
• pioneers

Set a Purpose for Reading

As students read, have them think about what life might be like without planes.

1. How did people fly when the Wright brothers were growing up? 
When the Wright brothers were growing up, there were no planes with engines. People flew mainly in hot-air balloons and gliders.
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2. Based on the text and illustrations, what did the Wright Flyer look like? 
The text and illustrations show that the Wright Flyer was small. It had two long wings covered in fabric. It also had an engine and propellers.
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3. The article states that the Wright brothers’ inventions inspired others. What do you think this means? Use evidence from the article to support your answer. 
To inspire others means to lead them to think of new ideas. The Wright brothers did this by showing that it was possible to build and pilot a plane with an engine. The article states that other people later built “bigger and better aircraft.”
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Featured Skill: Text Evidence

Use the skill builder “All About the Wright Brothers” to have students complete a profile of the inventors, using details from the article.

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