Poe's Short Stories Lesson Plan

Cracking the Code

Kind of Activity:

Group Work

Objective:

Students will practice their code-breaking skills like in “The Gold Bug.”

Common Core Standards:

CCSS.ELA-LITERACY.W.9-10.3

Structure:

Before beginning the activity, make sure students read this article: “Top 10 codes, keys and ciphers” https://www.theguardian.com/childrens-books-site/2015/sep/10/top-10-codes-keys-and-ciphers

To start the activity, lead a short discussion using the following questions:

· What does the article say about codes? (Summarize the article.)

· What code(s) most appeal to you? Why?

· Which codes seem the most difficult to crack?

· Which codes seem the most difficult to break?

Remind...