De Paul University: Center for Urban Education: A Proud Flight [Pdf]

"A Proud Flight" is a one page, Greek myth about Icarus and Daedelus. The father and son were imprisoned, and in order to escape, Daedelus made wings using bird feathers covered with wax. He warned Icarus not to get too near the sun or the wax would melt. It is followed by constructed-response questions which require students to provide evidence from the story; these include determining the lessons to be learned from the myth and underlining the evidence in the text. This passage aligns with Common Core Anchor Reading Standard 1 requiring close reading and textual evidence.