Today's Classroom Activities :

The Wright Brothers

Flying High
Reading December 17 marks the anniversary of Wilbur and Orville Wrights' flight at Kitty Hawk, NC. To celebrate this historical event, check with your librarian and use the brothers in literature circle, read-aloud and for independent research. Have cake and ice cream on the 17th to celebrate the Wrights' achievements and spur on your own young pioneers.

It's also been over 100 years since the Wright brothers first took to the air, celebrate the anniversary of the first Wright Brothers flight by having a paper airplane contest. If the weather is too cold, set up the competition in the school gym.

Have students read about Wilbur and Orville at The Wright Brothers website. Another website student can look at is Flights of Inspiration which provides some insight into Wilbur and Orville Wright two inspired thinkers.

The Wright Brothers on "Hollywood Squares"
Have students test their knowledge of the Wright brothers by playing "Hollywood Squares."

Lesson Plan for Wright Brothers Biography: An Illustrated Timeline
Working independently online, students study primary source materials from the Wright Brothers exhibition and use what they learn to create a brief biography of Wilbur or Orville Wright. The class then combines individual student work to create a biography in the form of an illustrated timeline.

Pilot the 1903 Flyer
In this clickable illustration of the first airplane, students can see how the Wright brothers solved the problem of steering.

Who, What, When, Where, Why
For this lesson, students get into five groups. Each group examines one primary source document, looking for answers to specific questions about the Wright brothers' first flights. The students come together to compare answers, to discuss the reliability of the sources, and to reach conclusions about the best—or most likely—answers to the questions. They then compare their work to a secondary source, an article that appeared the next day, December 18, 1903, in the Norfolk Virginian-Pilot.