Essential Questions: What is the value of failure? What kinds of people can change the world? Why do people sometimes resist change?

Post the following prompt for students to respond to in their writing journals or on a sheet of paper: 

Why is determination important when pursuing a goal? 

What can we learn from people who push forward despite obstacles?

Have you ever worked hard at something even when others doubted you? What happened?

Invite volunteers to share their thoughts with the class.

Project the Google Slides version of Vocabulary: Definitions and Practice on your whiteboard. Review the definitions and complete the activity as a class. Highlighted words: apprentice, aviation, delusions of grandeur, disperse, trussing. Audio pronunciations of the words and a read-aloud of the definitions are embedded on the slides. Optionally, print the PDF version or share the slideshow link to your LMS and have students preview the words and complete the activity independently before class.

Invite a volunteer to read aloud the As You Read box on page 21 or at the top of the digital story page.

Assign parts and read the play aloud as a class.

Divide students into groups to discuss the following Discussion Questions, which are also located in the Resources tab.

1. In Scene 2, how does Bea feel about her mother’s comment “We Tates have no delusions of grandeur”? How do you know? (character, inference) Bea is frustrated and discouraged by her mother’s comment. You know this because when Bea hears the comment, she clenches her jaw. Also, Bea later repeats her mother’s words to Tommy as an explanation for why she (Bea) isn’t going to pursue the apprenticeship with the milliner in Plymouth. Also, the stage directions note that Bea “gloomily” says that her mother’s comment means it’s time for her to get back to digging up potatoes.

2. In Scene 4, what feelings do Bea’s parents express about change? Explain. (character, inference) Both Addie and Bill express resistance to change. Addie says, “I’ve never even seen a telephone, and that’s fine by me,” suggesting that she does not see the need for technological advancements in her life. Bill expresses a similar idea when he says, “We have no need for such fancy contraptions here in Kitty Hawk.” Both of Bea’s parents are saying that they are comfortable with the way things have always been.

3. In Scene 6, Addie puts her arm around Bea and says, “I don’t want the wind to carry you off.” Bea responds, “I’m not going anywhere, Ma.” What does the wind symbolize in this moment? (figurative language) Answers will vary. Students might say that the wind symbolizes change, or the changing world. Addie is anxious about losing Bea to the rapidly changing world outside of Kitty Hawk.

4. At the end of Scene 7, Addie says, “It’s a whole new world, Bea, and it belongs to you.” What does she mean? How do you think she feels at this moment? (critical thinking, inference, theme) Addie means that Bea’s future is in her own hands and is encouraging Bea to seize the opportunities that the world presents. She also means that Bea is young, and that it is Bea’s generation that will be able to take advantage of all the new things the world has to offer. Earlier in the scene, Addie tells Bea, “There are no limits to what you can do.” You can tell that Addie has accepted the idea of Bea leaving Kitty Hawk—that Addie’s excitement for Bea has eclipsed Addie’s fear of change.

5. How does the play explore the theme of breaking barriers? (theme, critical thinking) The play suggests that challenging traditional roles and expectations requires perseverance, courage, and a willingness to face skepticism. The Wright brothers are mocked and doubted by many, and they face numerous failures and setbacks, yet they continue their experiments and are eventually successful. Similarly, Bea’s dreams of becoming a milliner are discouraged by her mother, Addie, who believes Bea should follow a more conventional path and remain in Kitty Hawk. (“We Tates have no delusions of grandeur,” says Addie.) However, by the end of the play, Addie’s perspective shifts, and she encourages Bea to embrace the opportunity she has been given, suggesting that progress is possible when we defy expectations and challenge the limitations placed on us.

Have students complete the Featured Skill Activity: Key Ideas and Details. This activity will prepare them to respond to the writing prompt on page 26 in the printed magazine and at the bottom of the digital story page:

Write a scene in which Addie and Bea talk to Orville and Wilbur about what they have learned from the brothers. You can choose when and where the scene takes place.

Alternatively, have students choose a task from the Choice Board, a menu of culminating tasks. Our Choice Board options include the writing prompt from the magazine, differentiated versions of the writing prompt, and additional creative ways for students to demonstrate their understanding of a story or article.