Kirby Mackenzie
Librarian Featured on The Ellen Show Discusses her School’s Innovative Approach to Neutralizing the Summer Slide.
My guest today is Kirby Mackenzie. She is McAuliffe Elementary’s 2014 teacher of the year and an incredibly fun and inspiring librarian you will not soon forget. We discovered Kirby through The Ellen DeGeneres Show where she was featured multiple times for her school’s dedication to providing books for their kids. When Kirby transitioned into the role of school librarian, she helped spearhead what is now a full blown movement at McAuliffe Elementary to ensure their students have books they love to read throughout the Summer months. The goal was simple, to mitigate the reading level losses they were experiencing at the start of each school year. What Kirby wasn’t expecting was how inspiring she would become to others and how many resources would flow her way to help her and the McAuliffe team grow their vision. What I wasn’t expecting was how funny, interesting and challenging the story was to get this program up and running. In this interview we talk about how the idea formed, those hard fought lessons from those first couple years and what the data they’ve collected reveals about the success of the program. This interview was a ton of fun, I think you’ll get some great laughs but hopefully you’ll also find some inspiration for yourself or to pass along because this idea impacts more than reading levels, it really brings together the whole community, school, teachers, parents and children working together on levels that might not otherwise be possible. So, buckle up sit back and enjoy this discussion with Kirby MacKenzie.
Show Notes:
Links:
The Ellen Show #1 – A Big Surprise for Kirby.
The Ellen Show #2 – A Proposal for Kirby.
The Ellen Show #3 – Ellen checks in with Kirby.
Books:
No More Summer-Reading Loss – School-based practitioners Carrie Cahill and Kathy Horvath join with renowned researchers Anne McGill-Franzen and Dick Allington to help you make summer readers out of every student.
In Defense of Read-Aloud: Sustaining Best Practice – Steven Layne offers here a clear clarion call on behalf of reading to children. It is insightful, reasoned, entertaining (rare in the field), and carefully researched for those who might doubt the urgent need for something that doesn’t need a Wi-Fi hot spot.
Summer Reading: Closing the Rich/Poor Reading Achievement Gap – Written by Richard L. Allington and Anne McGill-Franzen, acknowledged experts and researchers on reading, remedial reading, and special education, this collection describes multiple models of innovative summer reading and book distribution initiatives as well as research-based guidelines for planning a successful summer reading program, including tips on book selection, distribution methods, and direction for crucial follow-up.
The Power of Reading: Insights from the Research, 2nd Edition – Continuing the case for free voluntary reading, this new, updated, and much-looked-for second edition explores new research done on the topic in the last ten years as well as looking anew at some of the original research reviewed.