About Us 

Diaries record events, activities, thoughts or feelings.  People who keep them (diarists) usually write daily or at frequent intervals.  Some diarists  write very private thoughts  that they would not wish anyone else to see. Writing is a way for them to understand and think about what they are experiencing.  Other people write to an imaginary audience. While the diary is still private, it is meant  to be read.  Ellen does not want her brother Basil to read her diary,  and has written it in code.   Click here to see the other entries and decipher them with help  from a code-breaking device.

May 12 Zyqgj gq zcgle y nygl. G dmslb fgk pcybgle kw bgypw ylb fc rmjb kc gr uyq nypr md fgq zcgle y Qamsr. Gl dsrspc rfgq ugjj yjj zc gl ambc!

As this is part of the Who's Home?  section, students have to break the code (using the code breaker provided) and use the information to learn about the inhabitants of the house. They also learn about the issues that are facing these people at this time.  This item also includes discussion topics and links. Other items might include interactive exercises and history notes. 

Items also help to solve four broad interrelated problems that students address in the module: What's the Year? Where are You? Who's Home? and What's Happening? A final problem, Tell the Story, invites children to summarize their findings through news articles, editorials, book reviews, obituaries, or cartoons in an issue of the virtual (and fictitious) local newspaper. Their contributions can then be posted on the site (see Gazette from home page). [Next]