The International Reading Association will present the IRA Nila Banton Smith Award to a teacher who shows outstanding leadership in translating theory and current research into practice in developing content area literacy.

IRA Nila Banton Smith Award
For additional information, contact committees@reading.org

2010

Kelly Killorn

Killorn is a 6th grade reading and language arts teacher at Olson Middle School in Bloomington, MN. In addition to teaching, she is also the leader of Olson's Reading in the Content Areas Professional Learning Community (PLC), the Reading Department Leader, and a Secondary Literacy Leader for the Bloomington Public School District. Killorn wrote the 6th Grade Honors Reading curriculum for the Bloomington Public School District, as well as curricula for classes offered through Olson Middle School’s Alternative Learning Center Program for struggling readers.

Through her Master of Arts Program at Hamline University in St. Paul, Minnesota, Killorn had the opportunity to focus her research on her true passion: reading comprehension strategies for content area materials. As a result, she developed a comprehensive curriculum for adolescent readers, using specific reading strategies and activities during all phases of reading to enhance their comprehension of expository text – the R.E.A.D. Framework.

Originally, the R.E.A.D. Framework was meant as a tool for her students, but Killorn soon realized it was a beneficial tool for content area teachers as well. Through her work as a Secondary Literacy Leader and with her PLC, Killorn has taught the framework, with all of its strategies and activities, to many teachers. Now, the R.E.A.D. Framework is widely used in content area classes within Olson Middle School, as well as available to all teachers in the district on the Bloomington Public School's Reading Support Website. Killorn's goal is to provide other districts, in both Minnesota and across the United States, with the R.E.A.D. Framework for organizing reading comprehension strategies to use in content area classes.