By the way, "A Cameras Handspring" is an anagram for "Ciphers and Anagrams!" That will make sense in a minute. :)
Benjamin Franklin's life of unending fascination and intrigue continues to be the launchpad for us to explore many exciting topics. This semester that topic has been ciphers. Franklin himself used ciphers during the Revolutionary War in his work as a spy.
First, we understood that there are two basic TYPES of ciphers: 1) Substitution ciphers, in which the letters of the message are replaced by other letters or symbols and, 2) Transposition ciphers, in which the letters aren't changed, but simply rearranged.
For substitution ciphers we started with the most classic of ciphers, the Caesar cipher, and also learned and used the pigpgen cipher. Students made their own cipher wheels to encipher and decipher messages.
Benjamin Franklin's life of unending fascination and intrigue continues to be the launchpad for us to explore many exciting topics. This semester that topic has been ciphers. Franklin himself used ciphers during the Revolutionary War in his work as a spy.
First, we understood that there are two basic TYPES of ciphers: 1) Substitution ciphers, in which the letters of the message are replaced by other letters or symbols and, 2) Transposition ciphers, in which the letters aren't changed, but simply rearranged.
For substitution ciphers we started with the most classic of ciphers, the Caesar cipher, and also learned and used the pigpgen cipher. Students made their own cipher wheels to encipher and decipher messages.
To study and practice transposition ciphers we had a LOT of fun with anagrams. We got inspiration from the book Elvis Lives, a book of funny anagrams like "ASTRONOMER = MOONSTARER" and "SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA = HOT SUN, OR LIFE IN A CAR." Pretty amazing, huh?
We got out the letter tiles and students came up with their own hilarious zingers, such as:
"I'M HYSTERICALLY LAUGHING" = "TYLA HAS MY CHIN, GRILL GLEN!" BY TYLA
"ADRIAN IS NOT A CIPHER" = "TARI CAN RAID IPHONES" ADRIAN
"CONSTIPATED" = "COST TED PAIN!" BY ZOIE W. AND MYKAL
"I'M CRAZY VIKING" = "ANY CIG, MR. KIVIZ?" BY KIERAN
"NITISH AND YOSI" = "SIT IN A DISNY" BY NITISH AND YOSI
"MINECRAFT" = "RUN MATEY!" BY COREY
"RAT OR COB" = "CAR ROBOT" BY RHEA
"INSPECT, OR..." = "INSPECTOR" BY BALA
"WET GOATS HAVE..." = "WE HAVE TOGAS!" BY SHREEYA
"BAD DAY" = "BAY DAD" BY SUMEDHA
"SHE SAT ON BEES!" = "NO BEETS, ASHES" BY OLIVIA
"ROB, IN HERE!" = "HEROBRINE" BY STEVEN
"RAISINS" = "RAIN, SIS!" BY RHEA
"FORWARD" = "FAR WORD" BY APOORVA
"POINTS" = "IN POTS" BY BALA
