Codes, Lives of Spies, and a Spy Simulation! Spy Bundle #4

Students will get plenty of fun opportunities to practice and apply their critical thinking and multi-step problem-solving skills while learning how to send and receive a variety of secret encoded messages! And by purchasing this bundle your job teaching the codes just got so much easier!!

In addition, students love exploring the world of secret agents and the roles they play in protecting their countries. Studying the secret lives of spies and the missions they partake in, is a high interest, real-world application of critical thinking, problem-solving, and cause and effect relationships.

After students have learned the codes and ciphers and have developed a better understanding of spies and the problems they face, they will have the opportunity to apply their critical thinking, multi-step problem-solving, code-cracking skills in an exciting simulation.

These four units, when combined, make up an engaging, high-interest learning experience for students. And did I mention, they will be applying critical thinking, problem-solving, without even realizing it?!

Teaching Tips on How to Use the 4 Components as One Unit of Study:

When using the resources in this bundle I would recommend starting with teaching the codes and ciphers (Spy: Codes and Ciphers and Critical Thinking) which can easily be done using the Spy: Codes and Ciphers and Critical Thinking Supplemental Teaching Tool. This tool/PPT is animated so it will take both you and your students step by step through each of the codes.

After students learn the codes I would recommend the Spy: Going Undercover—the simulation. I like to use the activities in the Spy: Secret Lives of Spies product while I am teaching the codes and during the simulation. You may not want to spend an entire class period teaching codes or doing the simulation so pick a couple of the lessons in Spy: Secret Lives of Spies and incorporate those into your daily spy unit.

Overviews of Each Component:

Unit Overview for Spy: Codes, and Ciphers, and Critical Thinking

In this unit, students encode and decode secret messages requiring them to follow multi-step directions. They will also use their problem solving and analytical skills to determine what type of code a message is encrypted in and then use their knowledge of codes to successfully decode the given message.

Basic background information about cryptology (encoding/decoding messages) and delivering secret messages is also included. This unit is divided into three parts as described below.

Part 1. Secret Communication: Basic Concepts Spies Should Know

This section is teacher-led and provides students with an introduction to codes and ciphers through the discussion of basic espionage concepts/definitions including:

Cryptology

Cryptography

Cryptanalysis

Codes & Ciphers

Encoding & Decoding

Plaintext & Ciphertext

NSA/CSS

Dead Drops

Brush Passes

Also included are examples of real-world messages being concealed and delivered throughout history.

Part 2. Hidden Messages: Activities for Spies in Training.

Students love these hands-on activities as they try to conceal and deliver their own secret messages. Included in this section are “hidden message” activities to try with students, such as making invisible ink and completing a brush pass exchange.

Part 3. Spy School: Creating Clever and Cunning Codes and Ciphers

In Spy School, students will use critical thinking and follow multi-step directions to encode and decode messages. Step by step instruction, practice, and independent homework sheets, along with answer keys are provided for each type of code. A final test over all of the codes is also included. The following types of codes are covered:

Grocery List

Rail Fence

Columns of Four

Hidden Pathfinder

Tick-Tack-Toe

Phone-A-Code

Cipher Wheel

Square Grid

Computer Key

Caesar’s Cipher

Number Substitution

Unit Overview for Spy: Codes, Ciphers, and Critical Thinking, A Supplemental Teaching Tool

Be prepared to make your life easier!! This animated supplemental presentation is the perfect tool to help you teach codes and ciphers. This resource is meant to be used in conjunction with Spy: Codes and Ciphers and Critical Thinking. Be sure to check out the preview to see a few examples of the detailed animations for teaching the codes.

Students LOVE creating and cracking secret messages! This PowerPoint presentation makes teaching the codes and ciphers as easy as a click! The explanations of the codes are animated so students can see a step by step sequence for using each code. Simply click and advance through the slides while students follow along and practice on their own note sheets. 

For your convenience, a chart linking the corresponding student worksheet page numbers to the specific PPT slides for all of the codes is provided.

The following codes are taught in this presentation: Grocery List, Rail Fence, Columns of Four, Hidden Pathfinder, Tick-Tack-Toe, Phone-A-Code, Cipher Wheel, Square Grid, Computer Key, Caesar’s Cipher, and Number Substitution, which are the same codes you will find in Spy: Codes and Ciphers and Critical Thinking.

NOTE: This presentation covers only the TRAINING EXAMPLES and PRACTICE PROBLEMS as given in the Spy: Codes and Ciphers and Critical Thinking resource. The OPERATION activities (which may be assigned as homework) are not provided in this resource. Student note sheets are NOT included in this Supplemental Teaching Tool.

Unit Overview for Spy: Secret Lives of Spies. Cause, Effect and Problem Solving

Through examining the secret and not so secret lives of spies, students will become familiar with the world of espionage, the impact of cause and effect relationships, and how these relationships exist in the lives of spies. In addition, students will be able to develop a plan of action for solving their own problems by examining cause and effect relationships in their own lives. This unit consists of the following parts:

Part 1. Talk Like a Spy: Vocabulary. Students love this introduction to the language of spies and it is a great way to pique their interest in the unit. Students will learn various words or phrases associated with espionage. A student vocabulary “quiz” is provided.

Part 2. Live Like A Spy: Motives, Types, and Agencies. What would motivate a person to become a spy? What types of spies are there? What are overt and covert operations? What is the mission of the CIA? Mossad? MI6? All these questions and more are answered in this section. Teacher and student note sheets are included.

Part 3. Cause, Effect, and Problem Solving. When faced with a problem, it is important to think about what events or circumstances might be contributing to or causing the problem. Without determining the cause(s) it will be difficult to solve the problem. This section discusses the process of analyzing and using cause and effect relationships to solve problems. Students are asked to use cause and effect strategies to develop a solution to a problem they are facing. Teacher and student note sheets are included.

Part 4: Spy Spotlight: Spies have Problems Too. In this section, students will research and create a biography of a given spy, including a summary of the activities in which the spy participated. Students will then be asked to identify and explain how problem-solving or cause and effect relationships were an integral part of the spy’s mission. Student assignment guide included. Brief biographical sketches of 25 spies are also provided.

Part 5. Investigating Espionage. As an extension of this unit, students may participate in an independent or small group study on an espionage topic. Eighteen possible topics are given or students may choose a topic of their own. Students will also identify and explain the role problem solving (cause and effect) plays/played in their topic. Student assignment guide included.

Unit Overview for Spy: Going Undercover, A Problem Solving, Critical Thinking Spy Simulation!

Problem Solving and Critical Thinking come alive in this engaging espionage simulation! This simulation models real-world problem solving and critical thinking through the eyes and actions of spies.

Turn your classroom and school into a world of mystery and intrigue. When students participate in SPY Going Undercover they have the opportunity to practice their critical thinking and problem-solving skills in a simulation that requires them to take on the roles of spies, performing secret missions and encoding and decoding secret messages.

Want to get your students excited about learning? It doesn't get better than this unforgettable classroom experience! Espionage is all about problem-solving. For example, consider a spy who has been tasked with preventing another country from gaining information that threatens our national security. He has just been given a problem to solve.

This unit provides students with a four-step process for solving problems and gives them an understanding of how problem-solving exists in the world of espionage. Students will apply what they have learned by participating in an espionage simulation. In this simulation students, working as spies for their country will use their problem solving and critical thinking skills in covert missions in order to successfully complete a secret operation. This unit is divided into three parts as described below.

Part 1. The Problem Solving Process

This section describes the problem-solving process in four steps. It gives students the opportunity to solve a problem that they are currently facing. In addition, an explanation of how problem-solving may be applied to espionage is included. These problem-solving skills will be put to the test when students complete their spy operation/simulation. Teacher and student note sheets are included.

Part 2. Operation: SPY Simulation

In this simulation, students will become spies working with other agents for a given nation. Using critical thinking and problem-solving skills the students will crack a series of codes and complete covert missions throughout the school to find the location of confidential information vital to “national security”. Included in this simulation are detailed teacher instructions, sample worksheets, and templates for creating a spy simulation unique for your school. Sample clandestine missions are provided as well as mission logs and student worksheets.

Part 3. Independent Study/Enrichment

As an extension of this unit, students may participate in an independent or small group study. This would be perfect to schedule in conjunction with the simulation. Work on the missions for the simulation will not always take the entire class period so students can supplement their work with an independent study of a topic of their choice. Possible topics are listed in this section. Assignment guidelines are included.

Your students will LOVE learning these codes and taking on the identity of a spy! If (rather when!!) you find them begging for more be sure to check out the additional resource listed below, also available at KJS Creative Curriculum.

Additional Espionage Study

*The Dangerously Deceitful Double Agent: A Breakout Box Adventure

Want to give your students a fun and exciting way to test their decoding skills? Do your students love breakout box adventures? Then this is the perfect resource for you. Students decode a variety of encoded secret messages and clues to determine the identity of a double agent, all while tracking an international crime ring, The Syndicate, through Europe!

These super fun, high-interest, fully engaging units all complement one another. You can choose to do one or all of them. Your students will thank you and you will find yourself enjoying it as much as your students!

If you have any questions concerning this product before or after you purchase it please don't hesitate to contact me at KJSCreativeCurriculum@yahoo.com.

Go ahead, get your spy on!

Karen

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If your students enjoy this activity then they will LOVE learning about

forensic science. Check out this Lessons in Forensic Science NO PREP

bundle, covering topics like fingerprints, handwriting and document

analysis, counterfeit money, processing a crime scene, and more.

Lessons in Forensic Science

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