Code Talker

Reading Check and Short Answer questions on key points are designed for guided reading assignments, in-class review, formative assessment, quizzes, and more.

Chapters 1-4

Reading Check

1. Why is it beneficial for Navajo children to attend the boarding school and learn about white culture, according to Kii Yázhí’s uncle?

2. What is the first thing the school children are forbidden from doing?

3. How does the forced haircut make Kii Yázhí feel?

4. What does the school claim is the enemy of progress?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why are the Navajo children sent to school dressed in their finest clothing and jewelry?

2. Why does Kii Yázhí’s uncle believe learning English is so important?

3. In what ways is Ned both a model student and a rebellious one?

Paired Resource

“Spiritual Knowledge for a Secular Society”

• This article written by Herbert Benally, a faculty member at Shiprock’s Navajo Community College, unpacks and illuminates traditional Navajo lessons.
• This information connects to the theme of Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture.
• How does Ned use cultural teachings to survive boarding school? In what ways do teachers and administrators alienate him from this knowledge?

Chapters 5-8

Reading Check

1. What does Ned want to be when he grows up?

2. What are two good things about the high school program?

3. Which nation does Ned write about that sparks a food drive?

4. Which branch of the military begins recruiting Navajos for a special task at Ft. Defiance?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What does the Navajo Tribal Council say in its 1940 Special Resolution following the bombing of Pearl Harbor?

2. In what ways do the Navajo Warriors show patriotism and allyship with the United States, and why might it be considered ironic?

3. Why do people begin to worry after the 382nd platoon does not return after bootcamp?

Paired Resource

“The Remarkable and Complex Legacy of Native American Military Service”

• This article from Smithsonian Magazine explores the long history of Indigenous service in the United States Armed Forces.
• This information connects to the themes of Empathy During Wartime, The Navajo as Underdogs, and Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture.
• Why have Indigenous Americans served in the US military in the past? What makes Navajo service and the prejudice against it following Pearl Harbor ironic?

Chapters 9-12

Reading Check

1. What does Ned promise his parents he will do before enlisting?

2. What nickname does Hosteen Mitchell give Ned?

3. What do the Navajo recruits fight for?

4. How do code talkers carry the code?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How does the boarding school prepare the Navajo recruits for bootcamp?

2. Why are Ned and the other code talkers proud?

3. In what ways are the armed forces different for Navajos than the rest of the country? In what ways are they the same?

Chapters 13-16

Reading Check

1. How long does it take the marines to occupy Guadalcanal?

2. What rank is the highest any code talker receives?

3. What warrior code do the Japanese soldiers follow?

4. How do Ned and his fellow Navajos make it through the training excursion in the desert?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. Why is Ned so nervous about the boat ride, and how does he overcome his fear?

2. How does Ned identify with the Indigenous people of the Solomon Islands?

3. What purpose do nicknames serve for the soldiers facing fire in the Pacific?

Paired Resource

“Solomon Islanders Did More Than Just Save JFK During WWII”

• This article illuminates the contributions of Solomon Islanders and the vital role their islands played in Allied victory in the Pacific.
• This information connects to the themes of Empathy During Wartime and Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture.
• Why is it important both to the thematic structure of the story and to readers’ understanding of WWII that Ned acknowledges, appreciates, and connects with the Solomon Islanders?

Chapters 17-20

Reading Check

1. What two things does Ned say are always hard for him before battle?

2. Why do the code talkers name the Japanese soldiers Na’atsǫǫsí (mouse)?

3. What are the four rules of sending messages?

4. What is war, according to Ned?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What unique dangers do code talkers face?

2. Why do code talkers keep adding to the original code?

3. Why is Saipan a victory that cannot be celebrated?

Paired Resource

“Visual Puppeteer: Japanese Propaganda during WWII”

• This article explores the various tactics, tropes, and rationales behind Japanese propaganda efforts across the Pacific, including how it differed from American propaganda efforts.
• This information connects to the theme of Empathy During Wartime.
• What role does propaganda play in undermining empathy during war? What does Ned connect this loss of empathy to when describing Saipan?

Chapters 21-24

Reading Check

1. What do the marines and their vehicles have in common?

2. What kinds of wounds do marines suffer from?

3. What secret new weapon does Ned hear about through the code?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. What kinds of secrets do Ned and the armed forces keep about the war and why?

2. Where does the term “kamikaze” come from, and how does it help explain the mindset of Japanese soldiers?

3. What is the meaning of senninbari, and what relevance does it have in the story?

Paired Resource

“Strength Through Culture”

• This digital exhibit from the National Museum of the American Indian showcases the ways in which Indigenous culture provides support, space, and resilience for returning soldiers.
• This information connects to the themes of Empathy During Wartime and Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture.
• How do the soldiers in the story turn to their cultures to find peace, grounding, or courage? What cultural practices serve Ned as he survives, and what might these precious acts of hope show about universal human needs?

Chapters 25-29

Reading Check

1. What holds the battle of Iwo Jima together?

2. How long does the battle for Okinawa last?

3. In what other wars is Navajo code used?

4. In what year are the code talkers finally allowed to speak of their important role and mission?

Short Answer

Answer each question in at least 1 complete sentence. Incorporate details from the text to support your response.

1. How is the story of the flag raising on Iwo Jima romanticized, and why is this tragic?

2. In what ways do code talkers get short shrift after the war?

3. What makes returning to the US difficult for Navajos and other veterans of color?

4. What does Ned believe is more important than praise, recognition, and acknowledgement of code talkers after so many years of secrecy?

Paired Resource

“I Love This Land” and “Black Anzac”

• These poems written by Canadian and Australian poets reveal global patterns of service and erasure of Indigenous contributions by colonial powers and the need for shared stories to persist.
• This information connects to the theme of Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture.
• What themes, motifs, and images do Code Talker and the poems share? What do they reveal about cultural memory, power, and history?

Recommended Next Reads

House Made of Dawn by N. Scott Momaday

• This 1968 Pulitzer Prize–winning novel for older readers follows the story of a young Indigenous American named Abel, whose difficult return, exile, and reintegration with his culture following service during WWII sends him on a challenging spiritual, physical, and emotional journey.
• Shared themes include Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture, Reconciling Individual and Cultural Identities, and Resilience and Determination Against the Odds.
• Shared topics include New Mexico, WWII, soldier experiences, Indigenous experiences, and the ongoing impacts of colonialism.
• House Made of Dawn on SuperSummary

When My Name Was Keoko by Linda Sue Park

• This young adult novel published in 2012 explores the secrets, acts of courage, and betrayals within a close-knit Korean family resisting cultural repression under Japanese occupation during WWII.
• Shared themes include Exile, Alienation, and Navajo Culture, Resisting Cultural Repression, and Resilience and Determination Against the Odds.
• Shared topics include WWII fiction, cultural identity and suppression, life during war, and survival.
• When my Name Was Keoko on SuperSummary