★Summarize a Text
Grade 4 Reading Worksheet
Read the text. Circle the sentence that best summarizes the part named.
Read this first
Bessie Coleman Takes to the Sky
Bessie Coleman was born in Texas in 1892, one of thirteen children. Her family was poor. As a child, she helped pick cotton in the fields. She also walked four miles each way to a one-room school. Bessie loved to read, and she was especially good at math.
In 1915, Bessie moved to Chicago to find better work. She took a job at a barbershop. Customers there talked about many things, including airplanes. Some soldiers had come home from Europe with stories about pilots in France. Some of those pilots were women. Bessie decided that she would learn to fly.
That goal was not easy to reach. At the time, flight schools in the United States would not teach her. They turned her away because she was Black and because she was a woman. Bessie did not give up. She learned that schools in France might accept her. So she took French classes at night and saved every dollar she could.
In 1920, Bessie sailed to France. For seven months, she trained in a small, open airplane. The lessons were risky, and the planes were simple machines made of wood and cloth. In June 1921, she earned an international pilot's license. She was the first Black woman in the world to earn one.
Back in the United States, Bessie became a stunt pilot. At air shows, she flew loops and figure eights high above the crowds. Newspapers called her "Queen Bess." She used her fame to stand up for fairness. Once, she refused to perform unless Black and white visitors could enter the show through the same gate. The organizers agreed.
Bessie's biggest dream was to open a flight school for Black students. She gave talks at schools and churches to raise money for it. She never got to open the school herself. But in 1929, a flying club named for her opened in Los Angeles. It trained many new pilots.
Today, Bessie Coleman is remembered as a pioneer. Her courage opened the sky to people who had been told they did not belong there.
Which sentence best summarizes this text?
- Bessie Coleman beat unfair rules to become a pilot and opened doors for others.
- Bessie Coleman was brave, and her life is the most exciting story ever told.
- Bessie Coleman learned to fly in the United States and then taught pilots in France.
- Bessie Coleman worked in a Chicago barbershop and heard stories about airplanes.
Which sentence best summarizes the third paragraph?
- Bessie gave up on flying because schools would not teach her.
- Turned away at home, Bessie learned French to train in France.
- Bessie took night classes to become a teacher.
- Bessie saved her money to buy her own airplane.
Which sentence best summarizes the last two paragraphs?
- Bessie opened her own flight school in Los Angeles.
- Bessie stopped flying to become a teacher.
- Bessie gave talks only at churches in Chicago.
- Bessie's dream lived on and helped new pilots.
Which sentence best summarizes the fifth paragraph?
- Bessie flew in air shows only to win prizes and money.
- Bessie stopped flying after newspapers began writing about her.
- Bessie refused to fly in front of crowds at the air shows.
- Bessie became a stunt pilot who used her fame for fairness.
