Website review by Erin Brereton, Common Sense Education | Updated September 2013
Here There Everywhere
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Here There Everywhere

Optimistic kids' news source gently delivers current events with warmth

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Learning rating
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Grades
2–4
Subjects & Skills
English Language Arts, Social Studies, Critical Thinking
Great for
Evaluating Media
Price:  Free
Platforms:  Website
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The site's homepage features the most recently added news updates.

Pros: Articles are customized for kids and offer a look at appropriate news topics, inspiring people, and history.

Cons: The site doesn't really offer educator materials or activities to help further kids' learning experience.

Bottom Line: Here There Everywhere's sensitive but enthusiastic tone can help kids absorb challenging news info; additional activities and content would increase its educational value.

How Can I Teach with This Tool?

Site content is contributed by reputable authors, including a college professor and a psychologist who specializes in helping parents talk to kids about uncomfortable news. You can use the site's news coverage to help teach subjects ranging from general health to politics. 

You can also encourage students to submit questions to the site or pose them to the class to provide communication experience. Individual articles can be assigned for reading practice; accompanying pictures and diagrams can also serve as a springboard for discussion.

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Standards:

Here There Everywhere is a website featuring up-to-date news coverage for kids. The site is geared toward elementary school-aged and older kids. Founder and former Today show producer Claudia Heitler's post-kids career involved relaying recent news to her children (a practice she dubbed "The Bathtub Report"), hosting a monthly news discussion at her son's second grade class, and eventually launching Here There Everywhere in 2010. News categories include health, nature, politics, weather, sports, U.S. and world news, and historical events. Articles often focus on science; some also share inspiring stories about kids who have achieved goals. Others provide background on events like the Boston Marathon bombing but eschew the more shocking details to instead reassure readers that they are generally safe, highlighting bystanders' rescue efforts.

Kids won't find endless amounts of content -- approximately two stories are posted each week -- but the articles are on interesting subjects and are written in a way that manages to directly address kids without sounding dumbed down. Heitler says the site "credits children with being interested in and being able to understand some of the more newsy topics," which is a refreshing take on written kids' content. 

Here There Everywhere provides a gentler look at current events than a regular newspaper would most likely offer. As an added bonus, the site encourages kids to be inquisitive about the world around them. News items are written with an expressive, excited tone; an article about a recent spacecraft voyage, for example, refers to the project as "an amazing story." Kids can also submit questions for future interviews; previous sources include famous athletes and NASA astronauts.

Overall Rating
Engagement

Two articles are posted a week, so regular visitors may run out of reading material, and kids won't find many interactive exercises. Still, articles cover a range of topics, and kids can contribute by submitting comments and questions.

Pedagogy

Content isn't always evenly distributed; some topics may not get coverage for months. However, articles are written in an easy-to-understand, friendly tone and educate kids about science, politics, and other topics.

Support

Aside from a list of links to other educational sites, there aren't many extras. Additional materials to help teachers use the content and activities and to encourage parents and kids to use the site together would be a helpful resource.

Common Sense reviewer
Erin Brereton
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Key Standards Supported

Reading Foundational Skills

  • RF.2.4c

    Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

  • RF.3.4

    Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

  • RF.3.4a

    Read on-level text with purpose and understanding.

  • RF.3.4c

    Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

  • RF.4.4

    Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension.

  • RF.4.4c

    Use context to confirm or self-correct word recognition and understanding, rereading as necessary.

Reading Informational Text

  • RI.2.1

    Ask and answer such questions as who, what, where, when, why, and how to demonstrate understanding of key details in a text.

  • RI.2.10

    By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 2–3 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

  • RI.3.4

    Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases in a text relevant to a grade 3 topic or subject area.

  • RI.3.1

    Ask and answer questions to demonstrate understanding of a text, referring explicitly to the text as the basis for the answers.

  • RI.3.10

    By the end of the year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, at the high end of the grades 2–3 text complexity band independently and proficiently.

  • RI.4.4

    Determine the meaning of general academic and domain-specific words or phrases in a text relevant to a grade 4 topic or subject area.

  • RI.4.7

    Interpret information presented visually, orally, or quantitatively (e.g., in charts, graphs, diagrams, time lines, animations, or interactive elements on Web pages) and explain how the information contributes to an understanding of the text in which it appears.

  • RI.4.10

    By the end of year, read and comprehend informational texts, including history/social studies, science, and technical texts, in the grades 4–5 text complexity band proficiently, with scaffolding as needed at the high end of the range.

Speaking & Listening

  • SL.2.1b

    Build on others’ talk in conversations by linking their comments to the remarks of others.

  • SL.2.3

    Ask and answer questions about what a speaker says in order to clarify comprehension, gather additional information, or deepen understanding of a topic or issue.

  • SL.3.1c

    Ask questions to check understanding of information presented, stay on topic, and link their comments to the remarks of others.

  • SL.4.1c

    Pose and respond to specific questions to clarify or follow up on information, and make comments that contribute to the discussion and link to the remarks of others.

  • SL.4.1d

    Review the key ideas expressed and explain their own ideas and understanding in light of the discussion.

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Community Rating

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Featured review by
Keith Hughes ,
HTE is a great literacy and duscussion tool.
I explain American policy and current events to international audiences but was dumbfounded when discussing them with my 11 and 8 year-olds. HTE not only gives me a starting point for talking to them about current news items, but gets them reading something besides graphic novels!
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