Who were the Navajo Code Talkers?  

 The Navajo Code Talkers were a group of Native American Marines in WWII who came up with a new communication method. It was called the Navajo code as it used the Navajo language as a base. The original purpose was to disguise military messages so enemies could not understand them.

Why Were the Code Talkers Important?

The Navajo Code talkers proved to be successful in encrypting important messages and helped the U.S. military win many battles in the Pacific Theater. These brave men did not know how much they contributed during the war, but we do. Without them and their untiring efforts, noble sacrifices, and unwavering faith in their Motherland, America would not have been secure from threats from the Japanese Empire.

This worksheet integrates Social Studies and Writing concepts. This two-page resource consists of the following stages of writing development

1. Students will read a short passage containing important facts about The Navajo Code Talkers and how their selflessness changed the outcome of World War II.
2. Students will complete a R.A.C.E.S. graphic organizer to plan their response
3. Students record their answers as a constructed response paragraph and use a checklist to verify that all parts are included.

Tips for Differentiation + Scaffolding 

In addition to independent student work time, use this worksheet as an activity for:

• Guided writing groups
• Lesson warm-up
• Lesson wrap-up
• Fast finishers 
• Homework assignment
• Whole-class review (via smartboard)

Fast Finisher Activity

• Challenge your fast finishers to extend their constructed response topic into a research project or essay development activity. 

Support Struggling Students

• Support struggling writers or ESL students by providing sentence frames to aid them in constructing their sentences.
• Read the passage together and highlight ideas that could be used as evidence and supporting details.

Easily Download & Print

Use the dropdown icon on the Download button to download the PDF version of this resource. 

To save paper, we suggest printing this 2-page worksheet double-sided. 

Additionally, project the worksheet onto a screen and work through it as a class by having students record their answers in their notebooks. 

This resource was created by Nicole Ellis, a teacher in New York and Teach Starter Collaborator. 

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