Ward Melville Teacher Pioneers New Reading Resources
Ward Melville High School speech pathologist Theresa Blumenthal has taken her passion for teaching outside of the classroom to develop several exceptional products that will aid students in building reading fluency and vocabulary.
Building upon the success of her two digital applications, “Clue Catcher: Strategies for Using Context Clues” and “Clue Catcher: Idiom & Expressions,” Ms. Blumenthal recently published a book, “The Big White Hen.” The story, which is geared toward a broad audience, is about two hens who need to find a new home. The vocabulary is rich, and the book provides strategies for comprehension just like her previously launched app does and serves as an excellent read aloud book. It also offers strategies to help the curious child understand what some of the more sophisticated vocabulary means, empowering them and teaching them how to problem solve as well as increase comprehension.
“The Clue Catcher apps and ‘The Big White Hen’ were originally developed to help bridge the gap between what happens in the speech therapy room and what happens in class or at home,” Ms. Blumenthal said. “Educators and parents can now easily access these strategies, which will help them to better support children as they begin to generalize these skills and use them in daily life.”