Daniel’s First Trip to the Airport
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Daniel is very excited to ride an airplane for the first time. Follow his adventure through the airport as he learns exactly what to do before getting on a plane. Students will read the passage and answer follow-up questions about vocabulary and the details of the story.
Topic(s): Realistic Fiction. Skill(s): Summary, Context Clues. Genre(s): Prose
Daniel’s family was going to visit his grandmother in Ireland. That meant taking a long airplane ride across the ocean first, and Daniel was very excited. He looked out the car window and saw an airplane take off on the runway. It looked small.
“Why are we so far away from the airplanes?” Daniel asked.
“We have to park the car first. The parking lot is far away so the cars don’t get in the way of the planes,” said Dad.
Daniel and his father got out of the car. Daniel carried his backpack, and his father pulled a suitcase with wheels. They walked across the large parking lots to a bench surrounded by glass walls. Daniel sat down. “Now what?” he asked.
“Now we wait for the shuttle bus to take us to the airport,” said Dad.
When the bus came, Daniel was surprised that it was white instead of yellow. The bus was smaller than his school bus at home, and there were special seats on it for suitcases. When the bus was full, the driver closed the door and turned the bus onto a busy road.
“Does the bus take us right to our plane?” Daniel asked.
“No,” said Dad. “First we have to go to the airport and go through security.”
“What’s security?” asked Daniel.
“Security means safety. There are guards who will use a special machine to see inside our suitcases to make sure we aren’t bringing anything dangerous on the airplane,” said Dad.
When they got to the airport, the security line was long. To stay busy, Daniel looked at the people around him. They spoke many languages he had never heard before.
Finally, Dad put the bags in a tray that slid away into the machine. “Come on,” he said. Dad led Daniel to a security guard who waved a plastic wand all around Daniel’s body.
“Is it magic?” he asked.
The security guard laughed. “It’s just looking for metal, but you don’t have any. Have a nice trip!”
Dad handed Daniel his backpack again. “Now we’re ready to go to the airplane,” he said. They walked down a long hallway until they found a spot with many chairs. Daniel could see the airplane through the large glass wall. It was very big.
Daniel smiled. Soon he would be sitting on that plane and flying high in the sky.
Get the passage & questions on one printable PDF.