Concept 2 of 5
Symbol Codes: Pictures for Letters
Today's big idea
Read the key, read the message
One picture = one letter, in order.
How it works
👀 What's going on?
Spies and pirates love a picture code: a star means one letter, a circle means another, and only someone with the key can read the message. You can be that someone.
💡 Here's the trick
Look at the key above. Each picture stands for one letter. To read a coded word, swap every picture for its letter, keeping the same order. To write one, swap each letter for its picture.
- 1.Look at the key and learn which picture means which letter.
- 2.Go through the code one picture at a time.
- 3.Write the letter for each picture, in order, to spell the word.
✍️ Try it
With ⭐=C, 🔴=A, 🔺=T, what word is ⭐ 🔴 🔺? ⭐ is C, 🔴 is A, 🔺 is T, so the word is CAT.
⚠️ Watch out
Keep the pictures in the same order as they are given. If you swap them around you spell a different word — ⭐🔺🔴 would read CTA, which is not a word.
See it in action
⚡ Time to play!
Each picture stands for a letter. Read the key, then answer.
SYMBOL CODE · ROUND 1 OF 3
What word do these symbols spell?
Quick check
✅ VERIFICATION
If ⭐=C, 🔴=A and 🔺=T, what word is 🔴 ⭐ 🔺?
⚡ Finish the activity above first to answer.
Keep going!
Up next: Shift Codes
A→B, B→C — every letter moves 1.