As 2025 comes to a close, we’re celebrating the conversations that resonated most with you: our listeners! These are the Top 5 most-downloaded episodes of the year on Melissa & Lori Love Literacy. From practical classroom strategies to big-picture ideas that make us rethink teaching and learning, these episodes captured your attention and your hearts.
Whether you’re revisiting a favorite or discovering one you missed, we hope you find inspiration, insight, and a few “aha” moments as you explore our 2025 listener favorites.
Jessica Toste and Brennan Chandler reminded us how essential multisyllabic word reading is to literacy. Jessica shared that students encounter more than 20,000 multisyllabic words in print each year, and Brennan noted that 80% of students below proficient on national reading exams struggle with them.
They offered a six-step routine to reading multisyllabic words: underline vowels, join vowel teams, circle known parts, count syllables, read the chunks, and then read the whole word for meaning.
Speech-language pathologist Linsey Jones showed us what’s possible when interventions are smart, focused, and doable. Drawing on her background in speech-language pathology, Linsey built a data-driven Tier 2 program that uses quick, 15-minute sessions targeting letter-sound knowledge and early phonemic awareness—all tracked through real-time progress data.
Her thoughtful collaboration with classroom teachers has created system-wide change, and her work, inspired by literacy expert Julia Lindsey, is helping her district reach a remarkable milestone: almost no students falling behind by the end of kindergarten.
Devin Kearns reminded us that decoding big words shouldn’t depend on rigid syllable-type rules. As he explained, “We don’t want kids to feel like they’re solving a puzzle every time they see a long word.”
Instead, he emphasized flexibility, what researchers call set for variability: the ability to adjust when a first attempt doesn’t sound quite right.
Stephanie Stollar and Sarah Brown, authors of MTSS for Reading Improvement, helped us see that MTSS isn’t “one more thing.” It’s the framework that helps everything else work better, emphasizing that the MTSS pyramid includes resources, not students. They walked us through how strong systems of support go beyond one-off interventions to create alignment across an entire school.
We talked about the difference between MTSS and intervention, why Tier 1 instruction is the most powerful lever for change, and how to build supports that work within your reality. Stephanie and Sarah also shared how class-wide supports, smart teaming, and teacher-led initiatives can spark meaningful growth for every reader.
Matt Burns joined us to talk about what makes interventions truly effective for students who are struggling. He emphasized the power of the learning hierarchy—understanding where a breakdown occurs and matching the right support to the right need.
Matt shared how modeling can accelerate learning, explained what the 'right' kind of practice looks like, and showed how the same framework applies to writing and comprehension. He also offered practical ways to use assessment data to guide instruction and shared resources teachers can use to put these ideas into action.
Thanks for making 2025 our best year yet on Melissa & Lori Love Literacy!
Catch up on these listener favorites, share them with your team, and keep the conversation going. Cheers to another year of learning, laughter, and literacy! 🎉