“This was the best money I have ever spent on a teaching tool.” ~ a teacher in Wisconsin

Arizona ELA Standard: 2.RF.3

Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding one-syllable or two-syllable words.

Valentine’s Day Codes
Valentine’s Day Codes
Teach your students about basic cryptography and code making.
Word Ladder: Fly to Bee (6-steps)
Word Ladder: Fly to Bee (6-steps)
COLD to COOL. BAND to SING. Change one letter at a time — can you find the path?
Psycholunaphase (Greek and Latin)
Psycholunaphase (Greek and Latin)
What on earth is a Psycholunaphase? Break apart the Greek and Latin roots, figure out what it should mean, then invent the creature, device, or spell it describes.
Path Cipher (Codes Part 4)
Path Cipher (Codes Part 4)
Now let’s try the Path Cipher – a cipher that mixes things up even more than Zig Zag did.
Zig Zag Cipher (Codes Part 3)
Zig Zag Cipher (Codes Part 3)
Let’s try a cipher that doesn’t substitute new letters or shapes. We just mix things up.
Pig Pen Cipher (Codes Part 2)
Pig Pen Cipher (Codes Part 2)
Let’s encode some secret messages with a cipher that was actually used during the American Civil War!
Shift Cipher (Codes Part 1)
Shift Cipher (Codes Part 1)
Let’s encode and decode secret messages like Julius Caesar!
Words Within Words: Intro (SOLDIER)
Words Within Words: Intro (SOLDIER)
How many words can you find within SOLDIER? 20? 35? 50? Even more!?
Words Within Words: AIRPLANE
Words Within Words: AIRPLANE
How many words can you find within airplane?
Word Pyramid: P to PLAINS
Word Pyramid: P to PLAINS
Add a letter at each step to form a new word. Can you connect the starting point and ending point?
Word Pyramid: O to Stones
Word Pyramid: O to Stones
Add a letter at each step to form a new word. Can you connect the starting point and ending point?
Word Ladder: Two to Six (6-steps)
Word Ladder: Two to Six (6-steps)
COLD to COOL. BAND to SING. Change one letter at a time — can you find the path?
Word Ladder: Fast to Race (4 step)
Word Ladder: Fast to Race (4 step)
COLD to COOL. BAND to SING. Change one letter at a time — can you find the path?
Word Ladder: Sky to Red (5-steps)
Word Ladder: Sky to Red (5-steps)
COLD to COOL. BAND to SING. Change one letter at a time — can you find the path?
Word Ladder: Band to Sing (4 Steps)
Word Ladder: Band to Sing (4 Steps)
COLD to COOL. BAND to SING. Change one letter at a time — can you find the path?
Jotto
Jotto
Who can guess the codeword first?
Bulls and Cows
Bulls and Cows
How quickly can you break the numeric code?
Ghost
Ghost
Ghost is a word-building game for two players. The first person to create an actual word loses.