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Classical Academic Press • Camp Hill, Pennsylvania

www.ClassicalAcademicPress.com

Dr. Christopher Perrin

Classical SubjectsCreatively Taught

Greek Alphabet Code Cracker © 2008 by Classical Academic Press

Version 1.0

ISBN: 1-60051-035-3 EAN: 9781600510359

All rights reserved. This publication may not be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means,

without the prior permission, in writing, of Classical Academic Press.

Cover art by Rob Baddorf Interior design by David Gustafson

Classical Academic Press 2151 Market Street

Camp Hill, PA 17011

www.ClassicalAcademicPress.com

Table of ContentsIntroduction to Teachers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

Welcome . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5

Unit 1: The Greek Alphabet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7 Introduction to the Greek alphabet, including pronunciation guide.

Unit 2: The First Six Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11 Covers: A,a B,b G,g D,d E,e Z,z

Unit 3: The Next Six Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Covers: H,h Q,q I,i K,k L,l M,m

Unit 4: The Next Six Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27 Covers: N,n X,x O,o P,p R,r S,s,V

Unit 5: The Last Six Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37 Covers: T,t U,u F,f C,c Y,y W,w

Unit 6: Consonant Blends . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47 Special sounds consonants make when used together.

Unit 7: Vowels and Diphthongs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Review of vowels and the special sounds they make when used together.

Unit 8: Putting It All Together . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59 Review and reinforcement of all that you’ve learned.

Wrap-Up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68

3

Introduction to Teachers: You have made a bold decision to teach your students Greek. We congratulate you!

Greek is a beautiful and fascinating language that has enriched the minds of countless people over the centuries. It is the basis for much of the technical terminology in both science and medicine and is responsible for about twenty percent of the words in our English vocabulary. Learning Greek is also the gateway to reading and studying the New Testament as well as the writings of scores of classic Greek authors, from Homer to Aristotle.

Amazingly, children are not the least bit afraid of Greek and its intriguing sounds and curious letters. While adults tend to be intimidated by learning a novel alphabet, and a line of Greek words can look to them like an undecipherable code, that is not so with children. They will be happy, indeed, to “crack the code” of the Greek alphabet.

Knowing that children like adventure stories and secret codes, in this book we have cast the students in the role of detectives who, by learning to decipher Greek-rendered clues, will solve a dastardly crime. Students will love learning the Greek alphabet, even as they enjoy working as sleuths. If you are new to Greek as well, you will be able to learn right along with your students.

The book is divided into eight chapters and can be reasonably completed in eight weeks if you spend three to four periods per week using the text. Some teachers may want to slow the pace down or speed it up, depending on the age and ability of their students. It is better to do a little bit regularly than to schedule rare but long classes. In other words, four sessions a week at twenty minutes per session is far better than one class of eighty minutes!

The book proceeds gradually, adding six new Greek letters at a time. Students may need more help with assignments (especially with the Robbery Witness reports) during the first three chapters than they will need as they progress into later chapters. Therefore, it would be wise to plan to give more time to the first three chapters of the book. Also, it will help students immensely if you regularly sing and chant through the Greek alphabet, having the students look at each letter as they sing. An audio file of the Greek Alphabet Song has been provided on our website to help you and your students sing through the alphabet. We recommend that you begin and end each session with this song.

Please be sure to consult the other online resources that are available at www.classicalacademicpress.com/greekcode. You will find other audio recordings for use with the text, along with additional exercises and worksheets.

We think that your students will greatly enjoy this journey through the Greek alphabet, so be prepared for them to soon be clamoring to study Song School Greek or Greek for Children.

Sincerely,

Christopher A. Perrin, Ph.D. Greek Detective

4

Welcome

Mission Briefing:

The Greek Urn CaperWelcome, Detective. You have quite

a tough job ahead of you. Yesterday, the Grecian Urn of Achilles was stolen from the Cityburg Museum, and we need you to get it back. There are several suspects in custody (see page 6), but they aren’t talking, so you must use the clues given to us by witnesses to discover the identity of the thief and recover the stolen urn.

In order to crack the case, however, you’ll need to learn the Greek alphabet, which we use to encode important information. This book will teach you all that you need to know to crack the Greek alphabet code (or cypher) and solve the crime. Along the way, you’ll find lots of fun exercises and challenging puzzles to help you sharpen your skills and increase your knowledge. In no time you’ll become a full-fledged Greek Alphabet Code Cracker, ready to solve this case. Once you have discovered the name of the criminal and where he or she has taken the urn, you can go on to use your skills in all sorts of exciting ways, including sending secret messages to your friends!

Well, you better get started—there’s a lot to do, and I’m sure you’re eager to begin. Good luck!

Sincerely,

John Q HooverJohn Q. Hoover Senior Code Cracker

Urn of Achilles

5

Fish-Lips LouieRuns an illegal gam

bling

outfit across state borders.

Robs b

anks by holding a stick of dynam

ite. Wanted in nine states.

Has stolen over $1 m

illion in Europ

ean rubies.

Attem

pting to clone his ow

n army of lab

rab

bits to take over the w

orld.Prints counterfeit m

oney to supp

ort her exp

ensive tastes. Sought after by Interpol.

Mr. MiniRuby-Red Rebecca

Dr. Petri DicheFlorence the Forger

Crim

ina

l Susp

ects

6

Unit 1

Mission Briefing:

The Greek AlphabetJust look at the Greek alphabet over there on the

Cypher Card! Doesn’t it seem exciting? It’s curvy and squiggly, but still friendly. It’s strange in some ways, but still familiar. If you look carefully, you will see that nearly half of the Greek alphabet has carried over into English. That means that if you know your English alphabet well, then you already know about half of the Greek alphabet!

Look at the first two letters of the Greek alphabet. Have you seen them before? What do they look like? That is right, they look like an a and a b from the Eng-lish alphabet. These two letters have come from the Greek alphabet right into the English alphabet. Guess what the names of these two Greek letters are. The first is called alpha, and it makes the same sound our a makes. The second letter is called beta and it makes the same sound our b makes.

Now say alpha and beta together quickly—alpha-beta. What word does that sound like? Exactly! We get the word alphabet from these two Greek letters.

This book is going to teach you how to “crack the code” of the Greek alphabet. Soon, you will be able to make the sounds for each of the twenty-four Greek letters and then make and read words using them. If you learn your Greek letters, you will be able to write in a code that only students of Greek can read—a secret code. As you go through this book, you will use this code to solve puzzles and to discover who is behind the theft of the Grecian Urn of Achilles. You will become a Greek-reading detective!

7

Robbery Witness #1: Museum Tour Guide“Well, I was leading a tour through the early

Mesopotamia display, when I heard the alarm

sound in the Ancient Greece room. Suddenly,

someone rushed by me carrying what looked

like the Urn of Achilles. The urn is quite

rer and dates back to the seventh century

BC. It was donated in the year AD 1983

by the deceased widow, Ms. Werthenmuch.

The thief moved very fast, so I didn’t get

a good look, but I noticed the suspect was

wearing some sort of hat.

English Words:

#1: r a r e

#2: ___ ___ ___ ___

#3: h ___ ___

Robbery Witness Reports

Below is the first of several witness reports that will help you to narrow down the identity of the thief. As you go through the book, be sure to read each of these reports carefully. In each report you will find several words written using the Greek alphabet code. On a piece of scrap paper, change the red Greek letters to English letters, using the Code Cracker Cypher Wheel from the back of the book and any other tools you may need to help you. Then, using the rest of the report as your guide, determine what the proper English words are and write them in the spaces provided. We’ve decoded the first one for you.

Note that when you are translating between Greek and English, the number of let-ters used may be different. For instance, you’ll notice that the first word we have writ-ten in Greek letters is rer, which translates to rare in English.

Once you’ve cracked the code in each report, use the facts provided to eliminate one of the suspects (you can see the lineup on page 6). Use a pen or marker to cross them out as you go . Once you have cracked the first four clues, you should have narrowed down the list of suspects until the real thief is uncovered.

Good luck!

8 012345678901Unit 1

Here is the Greek alphabet! Sing the Greek Alphabet Song using the audio files available online (www.classicalacademicpress.com/greekcode), making sure to look at each letter as you sing it. You may even want to point to it with your pencil or finger as you sing.

00:03 *Sigma has two forms—s and V. The latter is called a final form and is only used when it is the final letter in a word.

9012345678901Unit 1

Robbery Witness #2: Art Critic“I was studying intently the use of kolor and light in the paintings of the great Renaissance artists, when a most rude individual carrying a large vase of some sort knocked me down. At the time, I had assumed the person was simply a careless museum worker relocating the item. The piece was rather dull and certainly not as lovely as the color palettes of the fine fourteenth-century masterpieces. I had no idea it was of such value. Oh, right, you asked about the qif. I am fairly certain that they were not wearing any glasseV.”

Now try the Greek Alphabet Sound-Off. Your teacher will lead you through this sound-off, or you can follow along with the audio file. Notice that every time you say the letter you are also making the sound that letter makes!

Greek Alphabet Sound-Off Ah-, ah-, alpha—ah-, ah-, alpha; b-, b-, beta—b-, b-, beta; g-, g-, gamma—g-, g-, gamma; d-, d-, delta—d-, d-, delta; eh-, eh-, epsilon—eh-, eh-, epsilon; dz-, dz-, zeta—dz-, dz-, zeta; ay-, ay-, eta—ay-, ay-, eta; th-, th-, theta—th-, th-, theta; ih-, ih-, iota—ih-, ih-, iota; k-, k-, kappa—k-, k-, kappa; l-, l-, lambda—l-, l-, lambda; m-, m-, mu—m-, m-, mu; n-, n-, nu—n-, n-, nu; ks-, ks-, xi—ks-, ks-, xi; aw-, aw-, omicron—aw-, aw-, omicron; p-, p-, pi—p-, p-, pi; r-, r-, rho—r-, r-, rho; s-, s-, sigma—s-, s-, sigma; t-, t-, tau—t-, t-, tau; oo-, oo-, upsilon—oo-, oo-, upsilon; f-, f-, phi—f-, f-, phi; k-, k-, chi—k-, k-, chi; ps-, ps-, psi—ps-, ps-, psi; oh-, oh-, omega—oh-, oh-, omega.

English Words:

#1: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

#2: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

#3: ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___ ___

10 012345678901Unit 1

Latin!Latin is a rich, ancient language, and is still very much alive in the modern languages

that we speak today. It plays a vital role training students in grammar, in categorical thinking about how a language works, in logical reasoning, and greatly expands a

student’s English vocabulary. Caveat emptor (let the buyer beware), these programs have made Latin the favorite subject of many students around the nation!

Spanish!After English, Spanish is arguably the most easily applied second language for North American students to learn and master. Classical Academic Press’s Spanish curricula are a blend of immersion and grammar-based study. We start with songs and vocabulary and go on to teach Spanish grammar for conversation—from its parts to its whole—so that students will know how to make sentences as well as recognize them by ear.

Greek!Greek is one of the mother tongues of the English language, with many English words having been derived from Greek. Greek is also a perfectly orderly language, ideal to help us understand the structure of any language. Koine Greek, which is the focus in our texts, is also the history-rich language of the New Testament.

Logic!There are several branches of logic, and our three levels of curriculum focus on teaching informal and formal logic, as well as supplying students with the tools to create their own logical arguments. Each logic text recognizes that students are living in the 21st century and applies logical concepts to real-life, and often humorous, examples. Mastery of logic is a requisite skill for critical thinking in any discipline and for the classical learning education.

Bible!If you would like to teach your students the narrative arc of the Bible and show them how God has been at work in His people since before creation, you will find God’s Great Covenant to be a unique and excellent Bible curriculum. Taught from a covenantal and reformed theological perspective, and rooted in Scripture, you will find this series to be a blessing to your classroom, Sunday School, or family.

Poetry!If you have ever felt mystified by poetry, this book will lead you step-by-step to an understanding and love of this branch of literature, guided by a gifted poet and teacher. This accessible curriculum demystifies the practice of reading a poem slowly and carefully, introduces students to the elements of poetry (such as imagery and metaphor), and highlights the historical forms that poems have taken (such as sonnet and open verse). Learn how absorbing the best words in the best order changes your relationship to ideas.

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Here at Classical Academic Press we understand the need for thorough explanations, enjoyable practice materials, independent student activities, encouraging collaborations, and the means to ask questions of other teachers! We also understand that these needs will vary among teachers and students, as well as their teaching and learning styles, and that learning happens in community. Our goal is to provide for you the resources you need, so that our curriculum is easy to use and so that your student’s studies are enjoyable, relevant, and complete. Here are just a sampling of the resources available to you:

HeadventureLand.comBe sure to check out this free practice for your student! HeadventureLand.com offers games, videos, stories, and other resources to support students studying Latin, Spanish, and Greek, particularly for students using curricula from Classical Academic Press. Headventure Land will always be a safe and family-friendly website for students to enjoy and is appropriate and appealing to students of all ages. As teachers and parents, you will find the For Teachers page particularly useful.

ClassicalAcademicPress.comThe Free Resources page at ClassicalAcademicPress.com offers suggested schedules, extra worksheets, audio pronunciation files, coloring pages, handy grammar charts, flash cards, articles, and mp3s. Also available is the “Ask the Magister (Teacher)” page, where you can submit questions to our magister (teacher) about any of our texts, subjects, or even specific questions of a text’s content.

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InsideClassicalEd.comOn the Inside Classical Education blog, Dr. Chris Perrin acquaints newcomers and veterans with the history of the Classical education movement. He reports on current developments, presents analysis and review, and interviews leaders in the movement through blog posts, articles, and podcasts.

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