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Secret Agent Coded Spelling

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by | Sep 22, 2020 | Literacy

Someone has left a secret coded message and you urgently need to enlist the help of your students to solve the mystery.  Can they help you crack the code?

Have some fun in your literacy lessons with Secret Agent Coded Spelling. The activity is designed to train your students in becoming world class secret agents… and help them learn their spelling words, too.

Learning to spell is an essential part of the curriculum and making spelling lessons fresh and fun is the key to students’ success. Teachers can use this activity sheet for fun practise of those important weekly spelling lists. With minimal preparation required, it is also a great last-minute lesson saviour for busy teachers.

To add some drama to a literacy lesson we recommend starting with an exciting lesson hook. Perhaps a secret message has been delivered to the class and your students must learn how to crack the code before they attempt to decipher the mysterious message.  Here is where Secret Agent Coded Spelling comes in handy!

Secret Agent Coded Spelling is an activity sheet with a code cracking key displayed at the top of the page. Students will see the alphabet and a corresponding number below. At the bottom of the page, there is room for students to practise their coding skills. On the first line, students will write their spelling word and on the second line, they will write the coded form.

How to use Secret Agent Coded Spelling:

  1. Set the scene, engage the students and give the activity a purpose. Display a coded message and tell the students that you need their help to crack the puzzle.
  2. First, students must practise the art of code breaking. So, provide them with the Secret Agent Coded Spelling activity sheet.
  3. Ask them to write their spelling words on the first line where it says ‘word’
  4. On the line below, where is it written ‘code’, the students must write the word in numerical form. They must use the code key at the top of the page to help them.

Extension Activities and Fun Ideas:

  • If your students need more practise in becoming master code breakers, ask them to write a spelling word in numerical form and pass it to a classmate. Their classmate must work backwards to uncover the spelling words. For even more of a challenge, ask them to write a sentence that includes a spelling word and they must decipher the sentence.
  • You could throw your students in the deep-end and provide them with their entire spelling list in coded form. Before they start to learn their weekly spelling words, they must first crack the codes to discover what they are.
  • If Secret Agent Coded Spelling is a hit with your students, they could create their own secret agent code. Ask them to create symbols to represent the letters of the alphabet. They can then challenge their friends to see if they can solve the puzzle.

 

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