This purely educational app is designed to help students develop their inferencing skills by figuring out vocabulary words in context. The free version of this app includes 5 words for each grade 3 through 10 and users can upgrade for 100 words per grade. Teachers or parents would begin by adding a student name and starting grade level. Students would not see the grade level. Students are shown the vocabulary word at the top of the screen and a sentence using the word. They must choose the correct answer from the three multiple choice options. They will need to continue guessing until they answer correctly. Students have the option for two types of clues, highlighting the key phrase that will help them figure out the answer and/or a thinking question that will help guide them to the right answer, e.g. "Tom was hungry after eating the meal. What does that tell you about the meal?". Both of the types of clues are helpful and students will learn what they can do independently when they come across an unfamiliar word or phrase. The app tracks correct and incorrect answers for subsequent review. The simple user interface limits distractions so students can focus on the task, but students might not enjoy the rote practice of reading sentences and answering multiple choice questions.

• Provides sufficient and varied types of practice problems to maximize understanding and generalization of the targeted skill/concept
• Manufacturer claims alignment with Common Core/Known Standards
• Presents educational concepts accurately
• Explains answers so students can learn from mistakes
• Better for teaching the skill to new or struggling learners
• Better for practicing or refreshing the skill
• Skills are practiced through authentic, meaningful problems (not just rote practice)

• Appropriate for a broad age range to use and enjoy
• Subject matter and problems are relevant, interesting and authentic to students
• Visually appealing to children in the target age range
• Provides virtual rewards or incentives after meeting specified goals or objectives
• Provides a "break activity" between academic problem sets
• Offers ongoing, progressive challenge
• Overall - Enjoyable. Given the option, students would choose this option

• Has a free or trial version
• Provides teaching guidance for adults to support the child and set appropriate goals
• Provides an age-appropriate tutorial/first time users can work independently
• Student should be able to use independently after first use
• Has a multi-player option to foster in-person collaboration or cooperation
• Multiple users can save a profile
• Student graduates to the next level or topic only after meeting a benchmark
• Can play without sound and not distract others
• Students can save work between sessions
• Can effectively understand and monitor student's progress (email report or in product)
• Provides options to play in languages other than English/Good for ELL
• Presents information in multiple formats (voice over, pictures and text, etc.)
• Overall - Easy to use

• Attention
• Promotes purchases or upgrades to students
• Problems or examples are not interesting for the target age range
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own
• Reading Basics
• Includes long written questions or text that students must be able to read on their own

Reviewed by SmartAppsForKids: 4 Star Review! “Bottom Line: This app teaches the all-important skill of understanding word meaning through context.”

Reviewed by OMazing Kids: “I love the clean intuitive interface, scaffolding, wide range of vocabulary, arrows to easily skip ahead or go back, ability to set up multiple users…”

Reviewed by Speech Musings: "I love the app for many reasons but the biggest one is that it actually teaches and doesn’t just test (like many apps)."

Reviewed by Teachers With Apps: "...fills a void of helping students develop vocabulary skills through context clues and inferencing."

Reviewed by BestAppsforKids.com: "Clue Catcher helps teach a much-needed skill and it does so in a quality way."

Reviewed by BestAppsforKids.org: "Clue Catcher is a strong tool for home and classroom use."

Clue Catcher is a wonderful tool for parents and teachers to help teach the inferencing skills necessary to use context to define unfamiliar words. Clue Catcher provides multiple opportunities to learn and practice the strategies necessary to be successful in this area to improve overall comprehension. Students will learn how to identify the words and phrases that are meaningful and contribute to a better understanding of an unfamiliar word’s meaning. This time-saving application covers vocabulary across elementary and secondary grade levels (3rd grade - 10th grade). It is ideal for differentiated instruction necessary for Response-to-Intervention (RTI) and for addressing Individualized Education Plan (IEP) goals. Speech-Language Pathologists, Reading Specialists, Special Educators, ENL Teachers, and Classroom Teachers will find that this tool is invaluable in helping to teach the skills and strategies to help improve comprehension and overall communication skills.

Clue Catcher lets you ...
-view the target word both in isolation and within a content rich sentence
-highlight the keywords within a sentence that will help a student to generate an appropriate definition
-select a ‘Think Clue’ which will guide the student through higher-level critical thinking skills which will help them relate to the word in a way that is meaningful
-select the best choice from three options
-keep track of correct and incorrect responses, for progress monitoring and data collection purposes
-set up individual students and assign them to specific grade level vocabulary lists
-change the grade level assigned to specific students as their skills improve
-discontinue and pick up at a later time, without losing your data
-ideal for group or individual instruction

Clue Catcher can be downloaded onto your IPad for free and includes five words per grade level that you can use to explore its functionality. Complete grade level data can be bought from within Clue Catcher via In App Purchases on a grade-by-grade basis or in discounted bundles.