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US Letter, 8.5 x 11 inches. Print at 100% for craft pieces; use Fit to page if your printer clips the margins. An adult should help with scissors and fitting wearable crafts.
A Thanksgiving decoding worksheet gives learners a reason to move between letters and numbers carefully. This original activity uses a simple A1Z26 code: A is 1, B is 2, and the pattern continues to Z as 26. Students decode short seasonal words and then write a message of their own using the same key.
What to make
The task practices accurate matching and attention to word boundaries rather than spelling from memory. A dash separates letters within a word, and a slash separates words in a phrase. Model one example before asking students to work independently. The completed messages are included for checking, so this is not an answer key for a worksheet from another publisher.
How to use this printable
- Read the alphabet key from left to right and find the numbers that match the first three letters of your own name.
- Decode the first word one number at a time, writing each letter below its number rather than guessing from the theme alone.
- Continue through the phrases, keeping a space wherever the code uses a slash between words.
- Write a new short message, encode it with the key, and exchange it with a partner who can check the result.
Make the activity your own
For younger learners, limit the activity to one word and cover the rest of the sheet. For an extra challenge, remove the alphabet key after a practice round or ask students to spot a deliberately incorrect number. A partner check can be especially useful: one child reads the numbers while the other reads back the letters. Remind everyone that an unfamiliar result may simply mean one number was copied incorrectly.
Questions before you begin
Is this the same as a cryptogram?
It is a simple letter-number substitution code. More complex cryptograms may use a different or hidden substitution system.
Can I write my own secret sentence?
Yes. Keep it short, check every number against the key, and use slashes or spaces so the reader can identify word boundaries.