Thursday, November 4, 2010

Young Historians: Decoding

During WWII, the United States used coded messages to pass important information. Both sides tried to figure out the coded messages. The United States came up with the only unbroken coding system. They used Navajo Indians to send message in the Navajo language. These men were called “walking secret codes” by other soldiers. Today they are called “code talkers.” You can read more about them at the Code Talkers website.

Today we will be making a “Caesar Cipher Wheel" We will practice “decoding” a message as well as sending them.

1942 Timeline
• Anne Frank Goes into Hiding
• Battle of Midway
• Battle of Stalingrad
• 110,000 Japanese-Americans Held in Internment Camps. These camps would last for three years.
• The Holocaust begins in Germany
• US forces under General Eisenhower invade Morocco and Algeria
• T-shirt introduced
• Starting in 1942 through 1945, female employees at Whitman’s Candy Company secretly slipped notes to soldiers in boxes of Whitman’s Chocolate Samplers destined for military shipment. Friendships, and even a few marriages resulted.

Songs: White Christmas Bing Crosby; I’ve Got a Gal in Kalamazoo Glenn Miller; Praise the Lord and Pass the Ammunition Kay Kyser; There’ll Be Bluebirds Over the White Cliffs of Dover Kay Kyser; Don’t Sit Under the Apple Tree (With Anyone Else But Me) Glenn Miller

• Books: “The Stranger” by Albert Camus Newberry Winner: The Matchlock Gun by Walter Edmonds; Caldecott Winner: Make Way for Ducklings by Robert McCloskey

• Movies: Casablanca, Mrs. Miniver, Bambi

No comments:

Post a Comment