Enhanced Assessment

NECAP Grade Level Expectations (GLEs) for Reading End of Grade 6

Passage-Related Reading Items for Informational Text: "A Century in the Sky"

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This article published in 2003 discusses the first flight of the Wright brothers and the 100 year anniversary of the flight. Read the article and then answer the questions that follow.

A Century in the Sky

The Wright flights in 1903 changed the world
1 The morning of December 17, 1903, was cold and windy in Kitty Hawk, North Carolina. It was not a good day to go the beach, but two very determined brothers headed there anyway.
2
Orville and Wilbur Wright hoped to get their latest invention off the ground. They had built an engine-powered plane, called the Flyer, in their bike shop in Dayton, Ohio. No human had ever flown such a craft before. But that didn't stop them.
3
At 10:35 a.m., with Orville piloting, the Flyer became airborne. Orville stayed in the air for 12 seconds. He flew only 120 feet, but it may have been the most remarkable journey in history. He was the first person ever to fly in a machine-powered aircraft.
4
The Wright brothers made three more flights that day. The last one was the longest: Wilbur stayed in the air for 59 seconds and traveled 852 feet. So began a new age of discovery.
5
This year marks the 100th anniversary of the brothers' flight. From December 12 to 17, Orville and Wilbur will be honored with a centennial celebration in Kitty Hawk. Science and technology have propelled us well beyond that first bumpy trip. Our planes are now safer, sleeker and much speedier.
The Sky's the Limit
6 "Though different, the Wright airplane is the father of every thing that flies today," says Ken Hyde, a pilot and airplane mechanic who founded the Wright Experience. Hyde recently finished building a reproduction of the Wright Flyer, which will be flown during the celebration.
7
To make the new Flyer, Hyde and his team analyzed information that the Wright brothers left behind. Hyde and his team also studied the original Flyer, which now hangs in the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum, in Washington, D.C. At first, Hyde says, the brothers' plans looked simple. But as he read them more closely, he couldn't help wondering, "How did these guys know that?"
The Wright Stuff
8 Orville and Wilbur first looked to the sky as young boys, playing with kites and a flying toy. Their interest took off in 1896, when Orville was 25 and Wilbur was 29. They were fascinated by reports of Otto Lilienthal, who was flying gliders in Germany. After Lilienthal died in a glider accident, the Wright brothers became determined to unlock the mysteries of flight.
9
Orville and Wilbur studied the records of people who had gone before them. They made gliders and, in 1901, built a wind tunnel to test wings of different shapes and sizes. Then they turned to the real experts. "We got plenty of flying fever watching the birds," Orville said.
10
The resulting ideas helped them to succeed where others had failed. They created "wing warping," twisting the wings to make turning easier. With wing warping, the craft could be steered and controlled. Instead of copying boat propellers, as others had done, the Wrights made curved propellers that worked liked rotating wings. These propellers helped to lift and move the plane forward-right into history.
11
On December 17, 2003, a Flyer will take off once more. Hyde hopes that the Wright Experience will help young inventors find their wings. "If we can get another Orville or Wilbur Wright out of this generation," he says, "that would be a great payoff."
12
Think! What would life be like if the Wright brothers had not invented the airplane?

Timeline

It's All Up in the Air

People reached for the sky long before the Wright brothers did. But powered air travel didn't take off until their successful flight. Since then, soaring inventions have taken us to new heights.

  • 1500 After studying birds in action, Leonardo da Vinci sketches a flying machine.
  • 1783 On November 21, in Paris, France, the Montgolfier brothers launch the first manned balloon.
  • 1903 Orville and Wilbur Wright take the first controlled flights in an engine-powered aircraft.
  • 1914 Fighter airplanes take to the skies during World War I. They are first used to spy and later for battle.
  • 1920s U.S. airlines begin to deliver mail and carry passengers. The earliest passenger planes are remodeled World War I bombers.
  • 1927 Charles A. Lindbergh, an American, makes the first nonstop solo flight across the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1932 American Amelia Earhart becomes the first woman to fly solo across the Atlantic Ocean.
  • 1939 A jet-powered airplane flies for the first time.
  • 1947 U.S. Air Force pilot Chuck Yeager flies faster than the speed of sound.
  • 1961 Soviet cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin become the first person to travel into space.
  • 1976 British Airways and Air France begin speedy passenger flights on planes that travel faster than sound.
  • 2003 The U.S. Air Forces X-47A, a pilotless fighter plane, flies for the first time in a test over California.
Used with permission from TIME For Kids magazine.

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Passage-Related Reading Items for Informational Text: "A Century in the Sky"
Sample Reading Items for Grade 7
Information about the Items
1. Knowing the meaning of the prefix re helps the reader know that reproduction means

A. an object with two sides.
B. something with many uses.
C. an object that is common.
D. a copy of something.

Key: D

R-6-2.1 (prefix knowledge)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-2.1: Students identify the meaning of unfamiliar vocabulary by…Using strategies to unlock meaning (e.g., knowledge of word structure, including prefixes/suffixes and base words)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 1 - Use language structure (pre/suffix) to determine meaning of words

Use the thesaurus entries below to answer the question.

mark (v) - 1. score 2. stain 3. indicate 4. celebrate

2. "This year marks the 100th anniversary of the brothers' flight." Which meaning of mark is used in the previous sentence?
A. meaning 1
B. meaning 2
C. meaning 3
D. meaning 4

Key: D

R-6-3.2 (multiple meanings)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-3.2: Shows breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by… Selecting appropriate words or explaining the use of words in context, including words with multiple meanings

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Use context cues or resources to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

Use the thesaurus entries below to answer the question.

craft (n) - 1. expertise 2. vehicle 3. trade 4. something made

3. "No human had ever flown such a craft before." Which meaning of craft is used in the previous sentence?
A. meaning 1
B. meaning 2
C. meaning 3
D. meaning 4

 

Key: B

R-6-3.2 (multiple meanings)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-3.2: Shows breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by… Selecting appropriate words or explaining the use of words in context, including words with multiple meanings

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Use context cues or resources to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words

4. In paragraph 5, what does propelled mean?

A. driven
B. compared
C. given
D. slowed

Key: A

R-6-3.2 (use context)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-3.2: Shows breadth of vocabulary knowledge through demonstrating understanding of word meanings and relationships by… Selecting appropriate words or explaining the use of words in context

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Use context cues to identify the meaning of unfamiliar words
5. The information in the timeline is most likely included to

A. show how important Lindberg was.
B. show what the Wright brothers did.
C. describe flying history in an organized way.
D. prove that flying is very popular.

Key: C

R-6-7.1 (use text features - graphic organizer)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-7.1: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository) by… Obtaining information from text features (e.g., graphic organizers, charts)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Obtain information using text features of informational text; Describe the characteristics or features of various types of text
6. According to the timeline, which event happened after U.S. airlines began delivering mail?

A. Fighter planes are used in war.

B. The Montgolfier brothers launch a hot-air balloon.

C. The Wright brothers fly 852 feet.

D. A jet-powered airplane flies for the first time.

Key: D

R-6-7.1 (use text features - graphic organizer)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-7.1: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository) by… Obtaining information from text features (e.g., graphic organizers, charts)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Obtain information using text features of informational text; Locate information to answer questions related to explicit or implicit central ideas in informational texts
7. Some words in the article are in bold print and underlined to show that they

A. are words the Wright brothers said.
B. are titles of different sections.
C. explain the main arguments of the author.
D. indicate where the new articles start.

Key: B

R-6-7.1 (use text features - bold print)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-7.1: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository) by… Obtaining information from text features (e.g., bold or italicized text)

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Obtain information using text features of informational text; Describe the characteristics or features of various types of text
8. According to the article, what part of the Wright brothers' plane caused them to be successful?

A. the curved wings
B. the kite-shaped wings
C. the wind tunnel
D. the gas-powered propeller

Key: A

R-6-7.2 (key details)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-7.2: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository and practical texts) by… Using information from the text to answer questions related to key details

Depth of Knowledge: Level 1 - Locate or recall facts or details explicitly presented in text
9. What first caused Wilbur's interest in flying?

A. a toy
B. a bird
C. his father
D. Otto Lilienthal

Key: A

R-6-7.2 (key details)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-7.2: Demonstrate initial understanding of informational texts (expository and practical texts) by… Using information from the text to answer questions related to key details

Depth of Knowledge: Level 1 - Locate or recall facts or details explicitly presented in text
10. Explain the meaning of Ken Hyde's quotation, "If we can get another Orville or Wilbur Wright out of this generation, that would be a great payoff." Use specific information from the article to support your response. R-6-8.1 (connect information in text) Key: Scoring Guide

Item Type: CR - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-8.1: Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by…Connecting information within a text

Depth of Knowledge: Level 3 - Explain, generalize, or connect ideas, using supporting evidence from the text
11. Based on the information in the article, the author most likely believes that

A. flying is difficult to learn to do well.

B. flying was a significant and exciting invention.

C. the Wright Brothers were the world's best inventors.

D. the Wright Brother's planes should be duplicated.

Key: B

R-6-8.3 (author's message)

Item Type: MC - related to passage

Alignment to GLE R-6-8.3: Analyze and interpret informational text, citing evidence as appropriate by… Drawing inferences about text, including author's message

Depth of Knowledge: Level 2 - Make basic inferences or draw basic conclusions about information presented in text; Recognize appropriate generalizations about text (e.g., possible titles, main ideas)

 

Supplemental Information about Text Passages Used for Grade 7
Title of Passage
Text Type
Text Descriptors
"A Century in the Sky," by Kathryn Satterfield from Time for Kids 2003
Informational

Magazine Article

  • Includes information presented through factual details and brief summaries
  • Varied but familiar vocabulary; content-specific terms (e.g., wing warping) are described or explained in context
  • Content requires general background knowledge about who the Wright brothers were and what they did
  • Text features include subheadings and timeline of events to support understanding
For more information about "Increasing Text Complexity," see NECAP Reading GLEs Grades K-8 - Appendix F
For more information about Suggested Informational and Literary Texts, see NECAP Reading GLEs
Grades K-8 - Appendix A

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© January 2005. Produced in partnership with New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont Departments of Education, Education Development Center, and the Center for Assessment. Permission to photocopy is granted for use in individual classrooms and professional development settings.