This document provides instructions for using a dictionary code to communicate messages. It explains that the code uses 3 numbers: 1) the page number, 2) the column (1 or 2) and 3) the word position in the column. It gives an example code of 19116, which means page 191, column 1, word 6. Students are instructed to practice decoding a sample message with a partner and answering the question using dictionary code.

2. STEP ONE – YOUR MATERIALS
1. YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WILL EACH NEED TO HAVE THE EXACT
SAME DICTIONARY! (IF NOT, YOUR “LANGUAGE” WILL BE TOTALLY
RUINED!)

3. STEP TWO – UNDERSTANDING THE CODE
A DICTIONARY CODE IS BROKEN DOWN INTO 3 SETS OF NUMBERS –
§ THE FIRST NUMBERS (USUALLY 3 DIGITS) ARE THE PAGE NUMBERS) IF
YOUR PAGE NUMBER IS ONLY ONE DIGIT OR TWO THEN YOU WILL NEED
TO ADD A ZERO IN FRONT OF IT TO MAKE IT A 3 DIGIT NUMBER.
§ THE NEXT NUMBER IS FOR WHICH COLUMN THE WORD APPEARS IN –
EITHER COLUMN ONE OR COLUMN TWO – SO THAT NUMBER IS EITHER
1 OR 2 SINCE MOST DICTIONARIES HAVE TWO COLUMNS
§ THE LAST NUMBER IS THE NUMERIC POSITION OF THE WORD IN THE
COLUMN – FOR EXAMPLE THE WORD MIGHT BE THE SEVENTH ONE IN
THE COLUMN SO THE LAST NUMBER WOULD BE O7. THIS NUMBER
NEEDS TO BE A 2 DIGIT NUMBER SO AGAIN, IF IT IS NOT, THEN YOU
WILL NEED TO ADD A 0 IN FRONT OF THE NUMBER TO MAKE IT A 2
DIGIT NUMBER.

4. FOR EXAMPLE
MY CODE NUMBER IS: 19116
SO –
1. 191 IS THE PAGE NUMBER

5. THE NEXT NUMBER
IS THE COLUMN NUMBER THE WORD IS IN – IN THIS CASE THE NUMBER IS 19116
SO THAT MEANS MY WORD IS IN COLUMN ONE THE FIRST COLUMN

6. AND FINALLY . . .
THE LAST NUMBERS TELL THE NUMERICAL POSITION OF THE WORD IN THE COLUMN
– IN THIS CASE THE LAST NUMBER IN MY CODE 191106 IS THE NUMBER 6 – SO
I WOULD COUNT DOWN 6 WORDS IN THE FIRST COLUMN. (THE 0 IS IN FRONT OF
THE 6 TO MAKE IT A 2 DIGIT NUMBER.

7. AND THE WORD IS . . .

8. LET’S REVIEW
FIRST NUMBERS - PAGE NUMBER
SECOND NUMBER – COLUMN NUMBER
THIRD NUMBER – NUMERICAL POSITION OF WORD IN COLUMN

9. NOW LET’S PRACTICE
YOU AND YOUR PARTNER WILL WORK TOGETHER TO DECODE THE
SIMPLE MESSAGE ON THE PRACTICE SHEET.
ONCE YOU HAVE DECODED THAT MESSAGE, YOU WILL ANSWER THE
QUESTION IN THE MESSAGE BY USING YOUR DICTIONARY CODE
SKILLS TO ENCIPHER THE ANSWER IN DICTIONARY CODE
RAISE YOUR HAND WHEN YOU HAVE COMPLETED THE PRACTICE, SO
IT CAN BE CHECKED FOR ACCURACY AND THEN ON TO THE
ACTUAL CLUE FOR THE DAY!