The Honolulu Advertiser

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What is NIE | History | Benefits | NIE Research

In hundreds of Hawaii classrooms and growing, The Honolulu Advertiser NIE program is fostering excellence in our young people. Our program brings and exchange of ideas to the classroom, encourages literacy and helps inquiring students become thinkers and doers. Using newspapers in the classroom is just one way we lay the foundation for informed, responsible citizens. The success of our program is credited to the teachers, librarians, principals who use newspapers as a teaching tool and to the local businesses who make it all possible. Thanks to them we're leaving Hawaii a legacy of confident readers, writers, critical thinkers and leaders.

BRINGING THE WORLD INTO THE CLASSROOM...
By the time a new textbook reaches a student's grasp, the information is typically 5 years old. Due to the dynamic world in which we live, frequently changing disciplines like History, Geography, English and Science become outdated within a few days! Newspapers bridge the time gap, offering the perfect compliment to the required text of the day.

The conception of the NIE program, as we know it today, is attributed to the request of some social studies teachers in New York City who requested The New York Times, in the 1930s. The first acknowledgement of the importance of newspapers in the classroom was the following editorial written June 8, 1795 in the Portland (Maine) Eastern Herald:

Much has been said and written on the utility of the newspaper; but one principal advantage which might be derived from these publications has been neglected; we mean that of reading them in schools, and by the children in families. Try it for one session – Do you wish your child to improve reading solely, give him a newspaper – it furnishes a variety, some parts of which must infallibly touch his fancy. Do you wish to instruct him in geography, nothing will so indelibly fix the relative situation of different places, as the stories and events published in the papers? In time, do you wish to have him acquainted with the manners of country or city, the mode of doing business, public or private; or do you wish him to have a smattering of every kind of science useful and amusing, give him a newspaper – newspapers are plenty and cheap – the cheapest book that can be bought, and the more you buy the better for your children, because every part furnishes some new and valuable information! Quoted in Editor & Publisher, 1984

Since this editorial went to print, 700 newspaper companies now share a common dream to provide newspapers for local schools. Publishers, teachers and students have discovered the link between traditional education and our dynamic world.

The Honolulu Advertiser will soon enter its 38th year of NIE deliveries. We are proud to serve over half of Hawaii's schools and are confident that with continued, coordinated efforts within the community, Hawaii will continue to raise our keiki into informed, motivated, and skilled leaders.

•	Critical Thinking Newspapers provide a platform for issues to be discussed and differing opinions to be expressed and examined. Pop Quiz: What issues matter to you in the upcoming presidential election?
•	Meeting Standards Consistent use of the paper increases students' enthusiasm towards studying. National standards require levels of literacy that newspapers have been proven to encourage. i.e. reading, creative writing, and comprehension. Pop Quiz: Can you tell the difference in writing styles between a Sports writer and Island Life writer?
•	Problem-solving lessons Students are encouraged to become informed and responsible citizens. Additionally, the world requires knowledge of basic mathematics. A proficiency in economics is not only encouraged in the business section but analyzing sports stats as well. Pop Quiz: What NCAA basketball team had the best record in 2000?
•	Vocabulary development There isn't a better way to gain a larger vocabulary than through direct exposure and usage. Both of which are encouraged in the newspaper. Pop Quiz: What is the definition of logorrhea?
•	Writing Improvement Newspapers are the perfect model for teaching students to write with a purpose. Pop Quiz: Developing an opinion can be difficult, what steps do you take to express your opinion on paper?
•	Science, technology and health instruction These ever-changing subjects are easily kept relevant with fresh newspapers. Pop Quiz: When is the next lunar eclipse?