Lesson Plan

The Wright Community

seven men in life savers uniform stand in front of a wall
Grade Level:
Upper Elementary: Third Grade through Fifth Grade
Subject:
Literacy and Language Arts,Social Studies
Lesson Duration:
90 Minutes
State Standards:
4.G.1.4 Explain the impact of technology on North Carolina’s citizens, past and present.
W.4.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, descriptive details, and clear event sequences.
Additional Standards:
4.H.1.3 Explain how people, events and developments brought about changes to communities in various regions of North Carolina.

Essential Question

What impact did the first flight have on the Wright brothers’ friends and family? How did the technology they created bring about change in their community?

Objective

Students will become familiar with the Wright brothers and the impact that their first flight had on the lives of their friends and family as well as the development of North Carolina.

Background

Wilbur and Orville Wright didn’t perform their flying experiments in a vacuum, they were supported, encouraged, and challenged by the family and friends they had around them. This lesson plan will dive into some of those relationships and the role Wilbur and Orville’s community played in their success.   

Preparation

Familiarize students with the story of Wilbur and Orville’s time at Kitty Hawk and what they achieved in the Outer Banks. (30 minutes) You can watch the Wind and Sand recorded program about Wilbur and Orville’s time at Kitty Hawk, participate in the Virtual Field Trip of Wright Brothers National Memorial, or explore some of the resources listed in the Additional Resources section below. Both videos are found on the website of Wright Brothers NMem (nps.gov/wrbr) and have optional worksheets for students to do while watching the videos.  

Materials

Lesson Plan and Student Handouts. Materials Needed: computers, internet access, video recording device, access to FlipGrid or other video sharing program, simple props, student worksheets.

Download The Wright Community Lesson Plan and Materials

This worksheet guides students through the "Wind and Sand" virtual program video.

Download Optional "Wind and Sand" Worksheet

This worksheet engages students as they follow along with the "Virtual Field Trip" video of Wright Brothers NMem.

Download Optional "Virtual Field Trip" Worksheet

Lesson Hook/Preview

Students will learn about the first flights by researching friends and family of Wilbur and Orville Wright and creating short videos responding to questions about the first flight from the perspective of one of their friends or family members.

Procedure

  1. Assign each student a person from the Wright brother’s story to research. (10-15 minutes) Give students the included handout (Research Directions) to guide their research and make sure they have the needed information about the person they’re researching.
Possible people to research:
    1. Wilbur Wright
    2. Orville Wright
    3. Katharine Wright
    4. Milton Wright
    5. Susan Wright (if she were still alive when they flew)
    6. Lorin Wright
    7. Ivonette Wright
    8. Carrie Kayler – Grumbach
    9. Charlie Taylor
    10. Samuel Langley
    11. Octave Chanute
    12. Bill Tate
    13. John Daniels
    14. Johnny Moore (disclaimer: famous for saying “damned if they ain’t flew”)
    15. Bob Wescott
  2. As students research their person. Share the following interview questions with students and ask them to think about how their assigned person would have responded to these questions. (40-50 minutes)
    1. Where were you when the first flight took place?
    2. How do you know Wilbur and Orville?
    3. What do you think about the first flight? OR How do you feel about the first flight?
  3. Have students write a narrative in first person as if they are the assigned person. (10-20 minutes) Remind them to make sure the research questions are answered in the narrative. Note: some of the assigned people are harder to research than others. For those people with limited written documentation of their lives or responses to the flights, students can use their imagination to fill in the gaps that the research didn’t provide.
  4. Using FlipGrid (www.flipgrid.com), or another free video platform, have students record their narrative in character as the person they were assigned. (15 minutes) Students should use props such as a hat, glasses, mustache, fishing pole, suit coat, tie, paper airplane, etc. to help them get in character.
  5. Once all clips have been submitted, ask students to log into FlipGrid and watch at least 5 other student’s videos and fill out the reflection questions below found in the Post-Questions handout. (30-40 minutes)
    1. List the five people you learned about.
    2. Out of the people you learned about, who do you think helped Wilbur and Orville the most? How did they help?
    3. How do you think Wilbur and Orville’s success impacted their communities (in Dayton or in Kitty Hawk)?
    4. What does the invention of the airplane mean for you today?
    5. Who makes up your community? What is something you can do this week to help someone in your community?
  6. To conclude the lesson, ask students to share some of what they wrote on the Post-Questions handout. (10 minutes)

Assessment Materials

Evaluation Rubric

Students will be evaluated using the following rubric.

  1. Research questions                                                                       ____ / 15 points
  2. Written narrative                                                                   ____ / 20 points
  3. FlipGrid video                                                                              ____ / 20 points
  4. At least 3 sources                                                                          ____ / 10 points
  5. Post questions                                                                ____ / 35 points         
Total                                                                               _________ / 100 points

Enrichment Activities

Live Ranger Q&A

  • Reach out to park staff at WRBR_Education@nps.gov to schedule an up-to 30 minute video chat with a ranger.
  • Prior to talking with a ranger, ask students to be prepared with questions to ask the ranger.
Make a KWL (Know, Want to know, Learned) Chart
  • Start the chart between steps one and two after students acquaint themselves with the Wright brothers’ story. Complete the chart after the post questions.

Additional Resources

Websites:

Articles: Digital Image Archives

Contact Information

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Tags: wright brothers national memorial 3rd grade 4th grade 5th grade third grade fourth grade fifth grade social studies history geography writing english language arts narrative performance interview community virtual

Last updated: October 8, 2020