ReadWriteThink: December 17, 2009: On this day in 1903, the Wright brothers made their phenomenal flight!

December 17, 2009

		Wilbur and Orville Wright’s landmark flight at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, was the realization of their dream of powered human flight. Although their historic achievement lasted only 12 seconds, it continues to symbolize — even after more than 100 years — human determination, imagination, creativity, and invention. image © 2009 www.clipart.com

On this day in 1903, the Wright brothers made their phenomenal flight!

CLASSROOM ACTIVITY

The anniversary of the Wright brothers’ amazing flight offers a great opportunity for a highly motivational learning experience. After your students learn about the Wright brothers, have an anniversary party to showcase their creative work. Remember to include a cake in the shape of an airplane! In addition, the following activities for elementary school students can be used as extensions to the lesson plans listed below:

Students can create a multimedia timeline presentation on the lives of the Wright brothers or on aviation over the last 100 years.
Ask students to compare the Wright Flyer, which Wilbur and Orville flew, with the planes we have today. Have them imagine what airplanes will be like 100 years from now and design or illustrate a future model.

Lesson Plans

Biographies: Creating Timelines of a Life
In this ReadWriteThink lesson, students in grades 3–5 use multiple sources to find information and create timelines about people in history. The lesson links to an Interactive Timeline tool.

Timelines and Texts: Motivating Students to Read Nonfiction
Students in grades 6–8 use make connections between historical events and invention creation dates using a timeline and their prior knowledge of events. Lesson activities include prediction strategies, note-taking, and paired thinking.

Great American Inventors: Using Nonfiction to Learn About Technology Inventions
In this lesson, elementary students read biographies of great American inventors and then gather and present information about the inventors’ lives. Have students focus on the Wright brothers or other inventors in the field of aviation.

Web Links

Wright Again
This website provides information about the Wright brothers’ development of the first powered aircraft; included are journal entries showing what they were doing on various days from 1878-1903.

The Wright Brothers
The Franklin Institute provides an excellent multimedia resource for students interested in learning more about the Wright brothers and seeing film clips of early flights.

Celebrating 100 Years of Flight
This page from KidsReads.com, created in 2003 to celebrate the 100th anniversary of the Wright brothers’ flight, provides an annotated list of children’s literature related to aviation.

UEET Kid’s Page
NASA provides this site for kids, which includes information about the history of flight, how flight works, and how jet engines work. Also included is an interactive game about the Wright brothers.

Texts

Yolen, Jane. 2003. My Brothers’ Flying Machine: Wilbur, Orville, and Me. Little Brown.
This illustrated book for children is told through the eyes of Katharine Wright, the younger sister of Wilbur and Orville.

Maurer, Richard. 2003. The Wright Sister. Roaring Brook Press.
Also told from Katherine Wright’s perspective, this Orbis Pictus-recommended book is appropriate for middle and high school students.

Old, Wendie C. 2002. To Fly: The Story of the Wright Brothers. Clarion Books.
This Orbis Pictus-recommended book focuses on the strengths each brother brought to the team, and the inventiveness and problem-solving that enabled them to fly.

Carson, Mary Kay. 2003. The Wright Brothers for Kids. Chicago Review Press.
Illustrated with photographs, this book about the Wright brothers includes hands-on activities for children to try.