Summarizing Nonfiction Practice
Cracking the Code
In 1942, the United States was at war with Japan. The two nations were engaged in fierce fighting in the Pacific.
Experts created secret codes for American military leaders to use in the Pacific, but it seemed
that the Japanese quickly figured out every code the experts came up with. U.S. leaders knew
they had to come up with a code that the Japanese could not break.
Phillip Johnston, who had lived among the Navajo since he was a boy, came up with
the idea of using the Navajo language as the basis for a new secret code. Navajo is a
complicated language. It is almost unknown off the Navajo reservation. The Marines decided
that Johnston’s idea was worth a try.
In May 1942, 29 Navajo Marines began developing the Navajo code. They created a dictionary and
special words for military terms. For example, the English word battleship became lo-tso. This was the Navajo
word for “whale.” The code used for bombs was the Navajo word a-ye-shi, which means “eggs.” Navajo code
talkers, as they came to be known, memorized 411 terms. They practiced with American code breakers to see
if U.S. experts could break the Navajo code. After three weeks of working with the code, the U.S. experts were
stumped. It was time to put the new code to work.
1. What is the main idea of this article?
a. The fighting between the United States and Japan
b. The problems of developing an unbreakable code
c. The grammar of the Navajo language
d. The development of the Navajo Marine code
2. Complete the graphic organizer.
3. Then use it to write a 3 sentence summary of the article here:
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________