Secret codes: 6th to 8th computers & making
Secret codes and encryption. A free 6th to 8th lesson plan with a hook, practice that links to free activities, and an exit ticket. Copy it and make it yours.
Lesson plan
Goal
- Students work toward: secret codes and encryption.
Hook (5 min)
- Ask the class: what do you already know about secret codes?
- Take two or three answers and write them where everyone can see them.
Teach (15 min)
- Say the big idea in one plain sentence: secret codes.
- Show one example, then one that is not an example, and ask how the two differ.
- Have students tell a partner or a small group the idea in their own words.
Practise (20 min)
- Choose one for the whole class or let groups pick:
- Play: Secret Code (https://peabody.kids/activities/secret-code)
- Print: make a secret-code puzzle (https://teach.peabody.kids/make/secret-code)
- Read: The Empty Birdcage (https://peabody.kids/library/the-locked-room-club-the-empty-birdcage)
Exit ticket (5 min)
- On a slip or aloud: one thing I learned about secret codes, and one question I still have.
- Sort the slips into: got it, nearly, not yet. Start tomorrow with the last pile.
Written by Peabody from its own skill pages. Free, no ads, no sign-in. Children can practise this on Peabody. More from teachers: teacher-shared resources.