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[email protected]
Crack the Code
ClearVision: 020 8789 9575 crack the code
[email protected]

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Copyright © Marion Ripley and Helen Wythers 2009
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Designed by Small World Design www.smallworlddesign.co.uk

This booklet can be photocopied provided no

changes are made and no pages omitted.
Copies can be distributed on a not for sale basis only.

All you
? ?
need is
a pencil ?
 Learning braille
Braille is a system of raised symbols, which some people who
are blind or partially-sighted learn to read with their fingertips.
The words in braille go from left to right across the page, just
like printed words.

Some people become very fast at reading braille and are able
to read long books, such as Harry Potter. Other people just use
braille for labelling, or for writing notes. For some children who
are blind or partially-sighted, braille is the very best way to learn
to read.

When sighted people look at a page of braille they see a mass

of dots and it is hard to imagine ever reading it - by sight or by For more information about braille
touch. But once you know what you are looking for it becomes and a range of braille courses for
much easier.
visually-impaired and sighted adults
and children, please contact the
RNIB: 0845 766 9999
www.rnib.org.uk
What is grade 1 braille?
There are two grades of braille. Grade 1 (also called
‘uncontracted braille’) is a straightforward code with one
symbol for each letter of the alphabet, plus a few extra symbols
for punctuation and numbers.

Grade 2 (‘contracted braille’) uses the same symbols for the

letters of the alphabet but it has lots of extra signs for common
words and combinations of letters. Grade 2 braille is quicker to
read but takes longer to learn.

1 26
 ,one of the policemen How do the dots work?
The symbols which represent each
letter are made up of between one and
said to ,george 8,i
six dots, based on the pattern of the six
dots you would see on a dice or a
domino.
thought you said that

you'd shot them80

Each dot can be referred to by number. On a Perkins brailler

the keys correspond to the individual dots as shown below.
,george said1 8,i

°°
thought you said there

°°
1 4

°°
was nobody available60
2 5

3 6
the end
3 2 1 4 5 6

If you are able to spend an hour or two with this puzzle book
you will find, by the end, you can read a whole page of basic
‘grade 1’ braille with very little difficulty.

25 2
 The Alphabet

A B C D E F G
,george said1 8,okay10

hung up1 counted to #aj

a b c d e f g and phoned the police

again4
1 Use a pencil or pen to copy the dots which make up the
letters:
8,hello1 ,I've just

A B C D E F G shot all the people

°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
burgling my garage10 he

told them and he hung up4

2 Here are the letters A-G again - but one letter is
repeated. Which one?
,within #b minutes #c

squad cars1 an armed

abcdeefg
response unit and an

3 Can you match the following words in print and braille? ambulance showed up4

cage bead face age ,of course1 the police

caught the burglars red

3 24
bead face age cage handed4
 Here’s a bit more reading practice. The second part of the 4 Can you read these sentences?
story looks more like embossed braille - the kind you will find
in real braille books. • dad bought him an Arsenal badge.
This is the true story of a man who woke at 2 in the morning
and realised that thieves were breaking into his garage. • He begged her to get into the cab.
^he immediately • She met him at an Internet cafe.
phoned the police, who
5 Fill in the missing word - in braille!
asked J^is someone in
• Delia Smith will teach you how to boil an
°° °° °°
your house?"
°° °° °°
°° °° °°

Burgers are usually made from minced

^george said J^no"
•
°° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °°
and explained the
°° °° °° °°

• In card games, the highest (and lowest)

situation. ^then they

scoring card is an °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °°
told him all patrols

• David Beckham is Brooklyn Beckham’s

were busy but an

°° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °°
officer would be there

23 Finished this page? Congratulations - you have

4
when available.
learned over a quarter of the alphabet!
 You have learned these letters: 25 The winning lottery numbers are 5 17 26 38 49.

A B C D E F G °° °° °° °°
°° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °°

a b c d e f g
Which of these numbers wasn’t a winning number?
Now here are six more:

H I J K L M Ldi Lag Lbf

* *
h i j k l m

*
Lch Lg Le

* **
* * * * **
*
6 Copy the dots which make up the letters:

H I J K L M * * * *
*
°° °° °° °° °° °° * CONGRATULATIONS!

*
* *
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
* * *
7 Find the opposites of these print words:

white low alive

You have cracked the code!

her valley toe healthy

hill heel ill dead

5 22
black high him
 And longer numbers just need one number sign at the 8 A Murder Mystery
beginning:

10 11 12
Laj Laa Lab When michael hill was found

20 100 2009 dead in ed’s Downtown Diner in

miami we did not know who to

Lbj Lajj Lbjji

blame. mike was no saint. he

24 Fill in the missing numbers
had blackmailed his brother

For the emergency services dial °° °° °° °° °°° °°° °°° °°°

°° °°
jake and made his sister gail

lend him money which he

The Prime Minister lives at °° °° °° °° °° °° Downing Street.
gambled away. he made a
°° °° °°

James Bond is agent °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° fake insurance claim and was

°° °° °° °°

jailed in gambia.
Most men retire at age °°° °°° °°° °°° °°° °°°

21 6
 he lied to his old dad, his under the bed and ^i

marriage to kim failed, and had to poke her with a

on one mad occasion he even coat hanger to get her

hijacked a plane from to come out."

adelaide to bali. Many

Numbers
people wanted to kill him. But Lastly, you need to know a few numbers.

who did the deed? ed did!

With the clever use of a number sign like this L in front
of them, the letters A to J become numbers - like this:

And that’s half the alphabet ........... 1 2 3 4 5

La Lb Lc Ld Le

6 7 8 9 0
Lf Lg Lh Li Lj

7 20
 You have learned these letters:

A B C D E F G
it known that the

house would be empty,

a b c d e f g
H I J K L M
explained to the taxi

driver J^he’s just h i j k l m

Now here are seven more:

N O P Q R S T
going upstairs to say

goodbye to my mother."
n o p q r s t
9 Copy the dots which make up the letters:
^a few minutes later,

N O P Q R S T
the husband got into

°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
the taxi and said,
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
J^sorry ^i took so
10 Find the shops!
long, the stupid
tesco iceland boots
thing was hiding monsoon lidl harrods
19 homebase topshop 8
 11 Take another good look at the new letters. Now try to 23 And here’s a funny story for you!
remember them and fill them in the spaces below:

N O P Q R S T ^a husband and wife

°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
were going out for the

evening. ^the last

12 Wordsearch

Write these drinks in braille.

thing they did was to

soda beer lager put the cat out.

°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° ^the taxi arrived
tea cola port
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
and, as the couple

walked out of the

Now find them in the box below, written across or down.
Can you find one more drink in the box?
house, the cat shot
q p n s l back in. ^so the
c o c o a
husband went back
o r p d g
l t e a e inside to chase it out.

9 a b e e r ^the wife, not wanting 18

 22 Now add the punctuation to this sentence:
Punctuation
Before we look at the last six letters, it is time to look at
You say “hello” and I say “goodbye.” some punctuation. Unlike the letters of the alphabet,
punctuation does not use either of the top dots.

°° °° °°
Here is a braille full stop. . Copy it here °° °° °°
°° °°
hello°°° °°° °° °° °°
°°
°° °° °°
^you say and
We also need a comma, , Copy it here °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °°
°° goodbye°°° °°° °° °°
°°
°° °° °°
^i say
an exclamation mark! ! Copy it here °° °° °°
°° °° °°
°° °° °°
and a question mark? ? Copy it here °° °° °°
You might also need to recognise the apostrophe, which °° °° °°
looks like this ’
13 Fill in the braille punctuation in the
following sentences:
For example: It’s very warm in Zoe’s flat.
I stopped at the shop to get eggs, cheese, milk and
bread. Had I forgotten something important?
^it’s very warm in Nappies? Soap? Potatoes? I know! Chocolate!

^zoe’s flat.
i stopped at the shop

to get eggs°°° °°° cheese°°° °°°

17 milk and bread°°° °°° had i 10

 ^so tell me, how long
forgotten something

important°°° °°° nappies°°° °°°

have you been having

soap°°° °°° potatoes°°° °°°

these disney spells?
Two more bits of punctuation . . .
i know°°° °°° chocolate°°° °°° In print, what people say is put in speech marks “like this.”

In braille, speech starts with this sign J

Braille produced for children usually shows which letters are
capitals by putting a capital sign in front of them.
and ends with this one "
In this way, young braille users learn how to use capital
letters themselves.
21 Copy out this braille sentence, with punctuation.
The sign to show a capital is like this:
“Women,” he said, “like sunbathing.”
^
The capital sign appears at the start of every sentence, at
the beginning of names and wherever else you would find a
capital letter in print.
J^women," he said,

Jlike sunbathing."
14 Read these words and find the odd one out! °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°

°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
^birmingham ^perth

°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° 16
11 °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
^cardiff ^leeds
 19 The missing words all start with
the same letter:
^belfast ^manchester

^bristol ^bedford

• People waiting in line is called a °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°

°° °° °° °° °° ^carlisle pigeon

• A competition with questions is a °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°

°° °° °° °°
^brighton ^leicester

• Where boats tie up is called a °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° 15 Fill in the names of famous people - not
°° °° °° °°
forgetting the capital sign. (Make up a
name if you don’t know the answer!)

20 Now here’s a joke: ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Oliver (chef)

°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°

°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
^doctor, doctor,
° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Mandela (statesman)
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
every time ^i stand
° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Obama (US President)
°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
up quickly, ^i see °° °° °° °° °° °° °°

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Cruise (US actor)

°° °° °° °°
^mickey ^mouse, °° °° °° °°

° ° ° ° ° ° ° ° Widdecombe (politican)
°° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °°
^donald ^duck

15 Harry °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° (boy wizard) 12

°° °° °° °° °° °° °°
and ^goofy.
 Now for the last six letters. You have already learned these: Write your child’s name here:

A B C D E F G °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
a b c d e f g
H I J K L M Where do you live?

°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
h i j k l m
N O P Q R S T
18 Circle your birthday month:
n o p q r s t
Now here are the last six:

U V W X Y Z ^january ^december
u v w x y z ^july ^august

16 Copy the dots which make up the letters:

^may ^october

U V W X Y Z
°° °° °° °° °° °°
^february ^april
°° °° °° °° °° °°
°° °° °° °° °° °°
^march ^june
17 Write your first name here (with a capital sign):

°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°
13 °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° 14
^september ^november
°° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °° °°