Secret Codes - Guidelines for the Activities

The write start - Jennifer Hallissy 2010

Secret Codes
Guidelines for the Activities

NOW YOU KNOW your ABCs, but how about your Alpha, Bravo, Charlies?

Secret codes have been used for centuries to relay privileged information. The premise is simple: A symbol, sound, or gesture is used to represent a letter of the alphabet. A key, showing which symbol stands for which letter, is often used to decipher the message.

You can encourage young writers to have fun “writing” messages with alternative alphabets such as the military alphabet, Morse code, nautical flags, or sign language.

Or they can create a secret code of their own by using the secret code worksheet included in the templates section at the back of the book (which becomes the key to figuring out what’s what).

MATERIALS

paper

pencil

crayons

military alphabet, Morse code, or secret code worksheet

HOW-TO

1. Kids can choose a ready-made code and “spell” out a secret message using symbols in place of letters.

2. Or kids can create their own code, by putting a symbol, shape, picture, number, or different letter in each box of the secret code worksheet. When they have filled in the boxes, they can refer to this key when they are writing their messages.

3. Remind kids to give a copy of the key to the message recipients, so their pals can use it to crack the code.

Variations

For Scribblers: Pre-writers can create a pretend code of dots and dashes or Xs and Os arranged in a pattern. Pattern recognition is an important precursor to learning how to spell.

For Spellers: Spellers love to figure out how to write their names using a secret code. Once they master doing this using one code, they can try other codes, or they can encrypt the names of friends and family members.

For Storytellers: Storytellers are ready to write short messages using a code. They will also enjoy decoding messages you (or their secret spy friends) send them in return.

For Scholars: Scholars are ready to make a complex code substituting one letter for another, using numbers to stand for letters, or inventing their own creative glyphs to represent each letter.