Podcast Host Dr. Rick Gilson was joined by APLC Designer of Professional Learning Angela DesBarres, and our guest for this episode, Dr. Julia Lindsey. Our conversation covered strategies to support readers in developing foundational skills in phonics, phonemic awareness, and decoding, building fluency and comprehension, with the goal of fostering a lifelong love of reading. Julia is a champion of ensuring everyone experiences the joy of reading. I love that Julia describes herself as a “phonics nerd.” Her commitment to helping students develop the skills to become lifelong learners and readers has already benefited 1000’s of teachers and young readers.
Online Session Opportunity
Dr. Lindsey will present on February 6, 2026, in an online session open to anyone who registers. If you are not able to attend in person, you will have access to the recording. You can register at: https://south.aplc.ca/program/14644
Dr. Lindsey is the author of the highly acclaimed books Reading Above the Fray: Reliable, Research-Based Routines for Developing Decoding Skills (April 18, 2022 release) and Small Groups, Big Results: Evidence-Based Routines to Get Every Child Reading (November 18th, 2025). We discuss both books on the podcast, and Julia offers suggestions on which book to read, highlighting the key points each book addresses. You can visit Julia’s website here: https://www.juliablindsey.com/
As always, we invite our presenters to share what they are reading, and resources that might be of interest to our listeners, in the course of our conversation, in addition to Dr. Lindsey’s two books we discussed:
Horse by Geraldine Brooks and Tiny Habits by Dr. BJ Fogg
We would also discuss and invite you to check out these online resources:
Beyond Decodables (https://www.beyonddecodables.com/) – developed by Dr. Julia Lindsey
Big Words Project (https://www.bigwordsprogram.com ) – sample sessions, games and texts to support vocabulary development.
Interventions for Students with reading difficulties in Grades 4-12: A systematic review and meta-analysis (Study referred to by Julia in our conversation. Available online here