Melissa & Lori Love Literacy ® | Science of Reading for Teachers

Episode 262
In this episode, we sit down with Nancy Blair and Pat Roberts, co-founders of AIM Academy and the AIM Institute for Learning & Research, to talk about how a school built on research came to be. Nancy and Pat share the story of meeting as parents of newly diagnosed daughters, and how that friendship grew into a non-profit school and a research institute that is celebrating its 20th year.
We discuss the early warning signs of dyslexia that too many families are told to wait out, why oral language and vocabulary deserve attention well before kindergarten, and how AIM's classrooms shifted over the years toward a fully integrated literacy model. Nancy and Pat also talk about AIM's ongoing partnership with literacy researchers, their free annual research symposium, and a forthcoming book meant to help any school or teacher follow a similar path.
This conversation is a fitting way to open Dyslexia Awareness Month, and a reminder of how much faster research and classroom practice can move when they move together.

Resources
Learn more about AIM Academy and see their list of dyslexia warning signs and red flags
Learn more about AIM's March Research to Practice Symposium:The Impact of Language on Reading and Writing. Registration is open for this free event! 
AIM is hosting, as part of our Road to Symposium events, a free Dyslexia Awareness Month webinar on Wednesday, October 21 with Dr. Shelly Gray and Dr. RJ Risueno who created a Dyslexia and DLD Screener Questionnaire for pediatricians.  
"Understanding Dyslexia: How Early Intervention Can Change Lives"
Podcast Episode: "The Relationship Between Phonics and Language Comprehension" with Tiffany Hogan
Podcast Episode:"Building Fluency with POSSUM" with Maryanne Wolf and Melissa Orkin 
Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.
Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 100 from April 1, 2022
Over time, the chronic trauma of not being successful with reading wears down  many students. It has devastating effects. In our official 100th episode, Dr. Steven Dykstra discusses trauma and reading. He explains the connection between not being taught to read using evidence-based practices and the subsequent, unnecessary trauma this causes in children’s lives. This is a pervasive problem happening everywhere. 
Dr. Steven Dykstra is a psychologist, advocate, and troublemaker in the reading world. His passion for reading comes from the recognition that the thousands of children he has served often pay the highest price for our failures and mistakes. 
Resources: 
Adverse Childhood Experiences (ACEs) 
NAEP Report Card: Reading 
Teaching Reading is Rocket Science by Louisa Moats

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.
Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 261  
In this episode, Caitlin Lucas shares innovative routines for kindergarten literacy instruction, emphasizing consistency and active participation to build foundational skills. Caitlin also uses sign language as part of her routines and shares easy ways teachers can use it too. 
Resources 
Maximizing Instructional Time Through Routines and Rehearsal  
Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.
Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

In this episode, we talk with Julia Lindsey about her book, Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills. Julia shares why decoding is one of the most important skills we can help students develop and how research-based instructional routines can make that learning more efficient, effective, and joyful.
Together, we explore the foundational skills that support decoding, the role of purposeful practice, and how consistent routines help students know what to expect as they build confidence with sounds, words, and increasingly complex texts.
Decoding isn't the end goal of reading! It's the gateway. When students develop strong decoding skills, they gain the independence needed to tackle new words, access meaning, and fully engage with reading.
Whether you're a classroom teacher, literacy coach, interventionist, or school leader, this conversation is packed with practical, research-based ideas you can put into practice right away.
Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.
Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.

Episode 260
In this episode, Wiley Blevins shares practical strategies for differentiating phonics instruction in both whole group and small group settings. We explore high impact routines, effective use of decodable texts, and how to meet diverse student needs efficiently.
Wiley walks us through how to design routines that are expansive enough to serve everyone in whole group, while using small group for the high-intensity, targeted practice that takes kids further faster. Differentiation does not have to happen only in small group. It can live right inside the phonics routines you are already using every day. 
Resources
Differentiating Phonics Instruction for Maximum Impact by Wiley Blevins 

Looking for more literacy support and resources? Explore all of our podcast episodes, free listening guides, and classroom tools at literacypodcast.com.
Interested in bringing Melissa & Lori Love Literacy to your school or event? Email us at literacypodcast@greatminds.org.