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PBS Unleashes Martha for Vocab Help

By Kate Rockwood, Newser Staff

Posted Aug 17, 2008 4:59 PM CDT

(Newser) – What if the family dog ate alphabet soup by mistake? Susan Meddaugh answered her 7-year-old son’s question by writing a book, Martha Speaks, which has now become a PBS show about the talking dog. PBS hopes it will teach challenging vocab—"diminish," "concoct," and "courageous" are on the list—by integrating them seamlessly into stories.

Funded by a $72 million federal grant, Martha arrives as more ESL kids attend US schools and research shows that vocabulary is "the single greatest predictor of academic excellence," one Martha adviser said. Now 40 half-hour episodes of Martha will join PBS' lineup of recent reading shows. For Meddaugh though, it's still about story: "And they're character-driven stories," she said. "If there are lessons . . . that's fine."

[Images (2)]

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When Martha is fed a bowl of alphabet soup, the letters travel up to her brain rather than down to her stomach, and she's able to speak. (PBS)

"Martha Speaks," based on the books by Susan Meddaugh, debuts on PBS September 1. (Houghton Mifflin)

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Studies have shown a vast difference in the number of words children know when they enter first grade: anywhere from 5,000 to 20,000, depending on their background. - Ilona Holland, show adviser and lecturer at Harvard's Graduate School of Education

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