Worksheets and No Prep Teaching Resources Reading Comprehension Worksheets World War II

The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1 World War II

---

The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1
Print The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1 Reading Comprehension with Sixth Grade Work

Print The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1 Reading Comprehension


Reading Level

	edHelper's suggested reading level:	grades 6 to 8
	Flesch-Kincaid grade level:	5.79

Vocabulary

	challenging words:		bomba, cipher, cryptography, encrypting, krip, own-a, poland, swapping, ticking, unbreakable, dispatches, mastery, decode, wartime, top-secret, battlefield
	content words:		In World War II, Marian Rejewski, MAR-yawn Ray-EFF-ski

---

The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1 By Toni Lee Robinson

---

¹     Spies, codes, secret back rooms - it all sounds like a thriller movie plot. In wartime, however, secrets can be very important. Top secret plans must be relayed to troops in the field. Ships, planes, and the like must all be quietly sent where they are needed. In World War II, contact was often made by radio. Telegraph and hand delivery were also used.
 
²     These messages, of course, could fall into enemy hands (or ears). Each side used codes to keep its plans secret. Most of the codes were ciphers. A cipher disguises the letters in the real message. This is done by swapping numbers or other letters for the real letters. Figures that mean nothing can be thrown in to hide the message even more. In the end, the message looks like a jumble of nonsense. To decode it, a person has to know the secret key.
 
³     Figuring out how to read code without having the key is called breaking the code. The science of codes and code breaking is called cryptography (krip-TOG-ra-fee). It is a war all its own�a war of wits. It usually takes place far from the battlefield. It was, however, one of the main battles of WWII.
 
⁴     First, each side tried to come up with an unbreakable code. The Nazis used a machine to make their ciphers. It was called Enigma (en-IGG-muh). The word means puzzle. The Enigma device looked like an old-fashioned typewriter in a box. It had a keyboard. It also had three to five wheels, or rotors. The letters of the alphabet circled around the edge of each rotor. Some machines had a plug board in the front as well. The board sprouted wires that could switch letters on the keyboard electronically.
 
⁵     Encrypting (putting a message into code) was easy with Enigma. The operator typed the real words on the keyboard. As each key was struck, the rotors turned. One rotor substituted a letter for each letter typed. How far did the rotor turn? Which letter of which rotor was subbed for the real letter? That all depended on how the operator had set the machine. The settings for each day were given to operators by those in charge. If the machine had a plug board, even more settings were possible. The number of letter combinations, even in one message, was dizzying.

Paragraphs 6 to 12:
For the complete story with questions: click here for printable

---

Weekly Reading Books

Create Weekly Reading Books Prepare for an entire week at once!

---

Feedback on The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1

Leave your feedback on The Secret of the Code Breakers, Part 1   (use this link if you found an error in the story)

---

World War II

World War II

---

Social Studies

Social Studies

United States History and Theme Units         American Government         Ancient America         Ancient China         Ancient Egypt         Ancient Greece         Ancient India         Ancient Mesopotamia         Ancient Rome         Biographies         Canadian Theme Unit         Country Theme Units         Crime and Terrorism         Economics         European History: 1600s-1800s

Explorers         Famous Educators         Geography         Grades 2-3 Social Studies Wendy's World Series         History of Books and Writing         History of Mathematics         How Can I Help?         Inventors and Inventions         Middle Ages         Renaissance         World Religion         World War I         World War II         World Wonders

---

United States

United States

American Government         Black History and Blacks in U.S. History         Children in History         Government Careers         Hispanic Heritage         How Can I Help?

Immigration         National Parks and Monuments         Native Americans         Presidents of the United States         Women's History

---

United States History

A Nation Divided (1840-1861)         A New Nation (1776-1830)         After the Civil War (1865-1870)         American Revolution         Cold War (1947-1991)         Colonial America (1492-1776)         Lewis and Clark (1804-1806)         Pearl Harbor         Spanish American War (1898)         The 1890's         The 1900's         The 1910's         The 1920's         The 1930's

The 1940's         The 1950's         The 1960's         The 1970's         The 1980's         The 1990's         The 2000's         The Civil War (1861-1865)         The Great Depression (1929-1945)         The United States Grows (1865-1900)         The War of 1812         Wild, Wild West         World War I (1914-1918)         World War II

---

50 States

Fifty States Theme Unit

---

Document Based Activities

Document Based Activities

Copyright © 2018 edHelper