We love books from YWAM Publishing! We have read several of the books in the Heroes of History and Christian Heroes: Then & Now together as a family. We were excited to have an opportunity to read and review Heroes of History-Orville Wright along with the corresponding study guide
The Heroes of History series brings history to life through the biographies of famous men and women. There are currently 28 books in the series. The series contains books about inventors, explorers, scientists, presidents, authors, and so much more. The books are recommended for ages 10 and up if they are reading independently, but can be enjoyed by much younger students if you are reading aloud.
Heroes of History- Orville Wright is a 203 page paperback book that contains 17 chapters and a bibliography. It tells the fascinating story of the Wright brothers, with a bit more of a focus on Orville. Did you know that before they become famous for flying at Kitty Hawk Orville and Wilbur Wright had a bicycle shop? Or that there was controversy over which plane was the first powered machine capable of manned flight? Or that they believed that it would not be possible to have large planes that flew a lot of people, rather they expected that individuals would be traveling using airplanes? Heroes of History- Orville Wright tells the story of the Wright Brothers starting with their early years, their bicycle shop, beginning interest of the possibility of flight, their first glider and trials at Kitty Hawk, and problems to solve. It goes on to talk about the race to be the first manned aircraft, the Flyer's first successful flights, more tests and trials, how the brothers tried to sell their invention without giving away secrets, their continued success and records that were set, along with some sadness that came their way.
Many of the books also have a corresponding downloadable study guide. Each study guide follows a similar format. We received the Orville Wright guide and it was an 83 page download which had the following sections:
Key Quotes- There are 10 quotes in this section that you can have your students memorize or use for copywork. They also could pick one or more of the quotes to copy on posterboard or something similar to display.
Display Corner -This section has many different ideas for things your students could display such as: photographs, models of planes, maps, advertisements, and more
Chapter Questions-There are 6 questions for each of the chapters of the book. The first question is a vocabulary question, the next a factual question, the next two are comprehension questions, and the last two are open ended questions looking for interpretation or opinion.
Student Explorations- This section has suggestions for essay questions, arts and crafts, creative writing, audio/visual projects, and hands on projects.
Community Links- Here you will find a list of suggested places to visit or people to talk to further your studies.
Social Studies- There are 6 sections given: Places, Journeys. Terms/Vocabulary, Geographical Characteristics, Timeline, and Conceptual Questions. Suggestions are given on how to use the material.
Related Themes to Explore has suggestions in the areas of science and technology, current events, geography, and math that are related to the topics studied in the book.
Culminating Event- has suggestions for bringing the study to a close such as hosting a party with music, clothing, and food related to what was discussed in the book, or creating a display, or giving an oral presentation.
In the back of the study guide you will find an appendix listing further resources to study, answers to the chapter questions, and a reproducibles section with an information sheet on Orville Wright, maps of the U.S., North Carolina, and France, and a timeline.
I have been reading Heroes of History-Orville Wright aloud to my 13, 11, 10, 8, and 6 year olds, reading a chapter a day and answering the discussion questions orally. We also have done some additional study using the internet to look up the bicycles Orville and Wilbur made, and watching YouTube videos of the Great Aerodrome flight and Orville and Wilbur's flights. We have found the book fascinating! The boys especially have become so interested in flight that they spent their money on some small drones to fly in the backyard. Even though Wilbur and Orville are famous and they knew what they were famous for, we learned many things about the brothers and the process they went through while learning about flight that we never knew before.
The study guide is a great way to further your studies. It is very flexible allowing families to pick and choose what type of activities they would like to complete. You can choose to simply use the chapter questions like we did, or you can turn your book into a complete unit study.
I highly recommend the Heroes of History and Christian Heroes Then & Now series from YWAM Publishing!
To see what my Crew Mates had to say, stop by the Crew Blog!
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