The Wright Brothers Take Flight: Grade 3 Reading Passage

About this worksheet

A third grade history passage about Wilbur and Orville Wright, from their bicycle shop to the first airplane flight at Kitty Hawk in 1903. A free printable 3rd grade nonfiction passage (141 words) with multiple-choice where/how/what questions, events to number in order and a short written answer. Answer key on page 2. It is aimed at third grade readers, around ages 8 to 9.

On this sheet

For thousands of years, people dreamed of flying like birds. Two brothers from Dayton, Ohio, Wilbur and Orville Wright, decided to make that dream come true. The brothers owned a bicycle shop, where they learned to build machines that were light and strong. They studied how birds turn and balance in the air. Then they tested their ideas with kites and gliders. Many tests failed, but they kept improving their designs. On December 17, 1903, at Kitty Hawk, North Carolina, Orville climbed onto their airplane, the Flyer.

Tips for using it

• Before reading, look at the picture and the title together and guess what the passage will be about.
• Ask your child to underline the sentence in the passage that proves each answer.
• Talk about the story afterwards: what was the problem, how was it solved, and what would your child have done?

Printing tips

Download the PDF and print at 100% (or “fit to page” on A4). Page 1 is the worksheet and page 2 is the answer key with the answers in red; print just page 1 if you want to keep the answers for checking. Free for personal, family and classroom use.