In-person registration will take place in the main hallway. Bring your confirmation email to the table to be checked in.

Virtual attendees will receive the Zoom links a few days before the conference. Please do not share links with those who haven’t registered.

Welcome address by Erin Fell.

Darcy Rogers: Embodying Literacy: Bringing Reading to Life Through Movement, Meaning and Interaction

Presentation, Meeting Room 1

Description: What if reading is something students experienced? This hands-on session explores strategies that help students actively construct meaning from texts through movement, discussion, collaboration, visual thinking, and authentic engagement. Combining second language acquisition research, neuroscience, and social-emotional learning, participants will examine ways to create opportunities for deeper understanding and connection.

Particular attention will be given to bringing reading to life while incorporating multiliteracies at students' appropriate proficiency levels. Through exploring practical approaches for making texts more accessible, participants will see how to foster critical thinking, support comprehension, and integrate visual, cultural and digital forms of literacy in meaningful ways. The session will provide adaptable ideas that demonstrate how literacy can be communicative and something learners live!

Catherine Théfenne: Making Time Visible: Annotating Verb Tenses for Deeper French Reading

Presentation, Meeting Room 2

Description: This presentation explores how annotating verb tenses while reading can improve students’ comprehension by making meaning more visible. Grounded in second language acquisition research, it demonstrates how guiding students to identify and label verb forms supports their ability to interpret time, sequence, and perspective in texts. Participants will see practical classroom applications, including modeling and scaffolded annotation techniques, that help learners recognize patterns in context. By connecting form to meaning during reading, this strategy promotes deeper processing, strengthens grammatical awareness, and builds student confidence with increasingly complex texts.

Suzanne Petty: How Can the Principles of Structured Literacy Be Effectively Translated to Foreign Language Acquisition?

Presentation, Meeting Room 3

Description: For nearly a century, Systematic Structured Literacy (SSL) instruction has been a powerful tool for teaching reading. Today, we know it as the engine behind the Science of Reading, with its five core pillars–phonemic awareness, phonics, fluency, vocabulary, and comprehension–firmly embedded in the SSL framework. While SSL has gained traction in moving from research to effective classroom applications, it raises an exciting question for world language teachers: Can we use these same methods to help English-speaking students acquire a second language (L2)? The basic cognitive processes of learning to read are the same for the non-disabled reader in any language, but success in L2 may require adjustments to SSL methods.

To explore this topic, participants will consider the following questions: (1) What are the core language processes taught in SSL? (2) Does a student's proficiency in English reading skills help or hinder them in L2? (3) Do the elements of SSL have the same influence in L2 versus English literacy skills? (4) How do we adapt these SSL components to a language with highly predictable spelling patterns (like Spanish) compared to more complex spelling systems (like French)? Attendees will leave with a deeper insight into the fundamentals of structured language and how L2 in Spanish or French may be impacted. Best of all, they will participate in a series of practical applications with the SSL components.

Michèle Braud: Strategies to Support Biliteracy

Seminar* (optional, in person only), Room 127

Description: While many literacy skills can transfer from one language to another, cross-linguistic transfer is not automatic; educators must explicitly teach students how, when, and why to apply knowledge from one language to another while also addressing the linguistic features unique to the target language. This interactive session explores what it means to develop proficient readers in a second language and examines literacy strategies that strengthen both language proficiency and comprehension. Through discussion, reflection, and collaboration, attendees will identify instructional strengths, uncover gaps, and leave with practical approaches for helping students fulfill the promise of biliteracy.

What will you learn?

• How to intentionally teach for cross-linguistic transfer so students can leverage what they already know while learning when literacy skills do (and do not) transfer between languages.

• Practical literacy routines and strategies that strengthen second-language reading, including what requires explicit instruction in the target language.

*Seminars are free of charge but require registration. Space is limited (in person only).

Snacks and exhibitors.

Michèle Braud: Are We Delivering on Our Promise of Biliteracy?

Presentation, Meeting Room 1

Description: Achieving biliteracy requires more than teaching students a second language—it requires intentionally developing strong readers who can transfer literacy skills across languages. Research consistently demonstrates that higher levels of language proficiency are associated with stronger academic achievement, making literacy instruction an essential component of every world language classroom. This interactive session explores what it means to develop proficient readers in a second language and considers which Louisiana Department of Education literacy resources can be effectively adapted for world language instruction. Through discussion, reflection, and collaboration, attendees will identify instructional strengths, uncover gaps, and leave with practical approaches for helping students fulfill the promise of biliteracy.

What will you learn?

• What is biliteracy—a big picture overview.

• What strong reading looks like in a world language classroom—and how to know whether students are truly developing literacy, not just language skills.

• Ways to adapt existing Louisiana Department of Education literacy resources to support meaningful literacy instruction in world language and immersion classrooms.

Geraldine Poublanc: Effective Use of DIBELS Reading Fluency to Improve Foreign Language Reading Success for Students with Dyslexia

Presentation, Meeting Room 2

Description: This presentation explores the effective use of the Dynamic Indicators of Basic Early Literacy Skills (DIBELS) Reading Fluency assessment to support students with dyslexia in foreign language classrooms. It highlights how DIBELS can be used to monitor reading progress, identify areas of need, and guide targeted instruction. By incorporating regular fluency assessment into foreign language instruction, educators can better support students with dyslexia and promote greater reading success and confidence.

Viviana Tracy: Yes, They Can Read That!

Presentation, Meeting Room 3

Description: One of the most effective ways to acquire a language is through reading meaningful, comprehensible text. Research supports that learners who read for pleasure experience growth in reading comprehension, vocabulary acquisition, spelling, writing style, and grammatical accuracy.

Come explore the possibilities of using comprehensible texts in the target language with novice-level learners! Learn how to break down texts and use backward planning to scaffold language in context for students’ reading success. Participants will also gain practical tips for building a classroom library, creating class texts, and implementing Free Voluntary Reading.

Using level-appropriate texts, whether teacher-created, class-created, or published materials, can help novice learners build confidence, reading stamina, and comprehension skills while encountering language in context. Selecting high-interest, comprehensible content gives students the greatest opportunity for success.

This session will demonstrate practical strategies for scaffolding texts through Acquisition Driven Instruction.  Participants will learn how to break down readings into manageable chunks, support comprehension, and create engaging reading experiences that help novice learners become confident readers in the target language.

Wesley Wood: The Tactile Reading Lab: Building Your Kinesthetic Toolkit

Seminar* (optional, in person only), Room 127

Description: Move from theory to implementation in this hands-on design lab. Participants are encouraged to bring a target-language reading passage they plan to teach and will work through a structured process for identifying common reading roadblocks and designing multisensory supports to address them. By using classroom-ready manipulatives and guided, live coaching, attendees will create kinesthetic activities that help students sound out tricky words, build vocabulary, and visually map out complex sentences. Along the way, participants will experience these strategies from the learner’s perspective and collaborate with colleagues to refine their designs. Participants will leave with a customized set of reading supports, a toolkit of adaptable, physical activities, and a ready-to-use plan for making your next reading lesson more accessible, engaging, and effective.

*Seminars are free of charge but require registration. Space is limited (in person only).

Networking and catered lunch for in-person participants.

See more here.

Shanna Beber: Louisiana Literacy Matters!

Description: Louisiana’s literacy gains are the result of a shared commitment that extends far beyond individual classrooms. In this keynote, participants will explore how educators, leaders, families, and state partners collectively contribute to a comprehensive literacy strategy designed to improve outcomes for all students. Through Louisiana’s literacy journey, attendees will gain a broader understanding of how their work connects to a larger vision and how collective action is driving meaningful change across the state.

Snacks and exhibitors.

Wesley Wood: Beyond the Page: Multisensory Approaches to Reading in the Language Classroom

Presentation, Meeting Room 1

Description: Reading in a second language should be more than a silent encounter between a student and a page. Yet many learners struggle not because they lack motivation but rather because figuring out how sounds, words, and sentences work in a new language places heavy demands on students' attention and mental energy. This session explores how multisensory instruction makes reading more visible, tangible, and accessible for all learners, while providing particularly powerful support for neurodivergent students. Through interactive demonstrations, participants will experience practical strategies that transform abstract reading rules into meaningful kinesthetic and auditory experiences. Together, we will examine how dedicating instructional time to the nuts and bolts of reading, such as matching sounds to letters and physically mapping out word patterns, can strengthen comprehension, reduce cognitive load, and create entry points into authentic texts. Participants will leave with concrete techniques for supporting language learners while maintaining high expectations for reading proficiency.

Sandra Fetterman: Strategies for Successful L2 Reading

Presentation, Meeting Room 2

Description: Strategies for Successful L2 Reading is a professional learning workshop for world language teachers focused on strengthening reading comprehension in the second language classroom. Participants will explore strategies such as using context clues, identifying main ideas, building vocabulary, and reading for meaning without translating every word. Through collaborative activities and practical classroom applications, teachers will gain tools to help learners become more confident, strategic, and independent readers in the target language.

Alecia Davis-Hellmers: Digital Media Literacy in the L2 Classroom

Presentation, Meeting Room 3

Description: Many students today largely engage in reading in their L1 through digital texts - websites, social media posts, comments and captions - over traditional print texts. By incorporating similar digital texts in the L2 in our world language classrooms, we can provide comprehensible authentic resources that are relevant to our students’ interests and lives. Additionally, not only do these texts allow us to develop their reading abilities in the L2, the use of these digital texts also allows us the opportunity to develop and support digital media literacy skills in the L2 - such as being able to navigate online platforms in the L2 or thinking critically about why certain content has been posted. The purpose of this session is to share already-created digital media reading resources, as well as to provide guidance on how to select social media texts and build tasks that help develop both L2 reading and digital media literacy.

Darcy Rogers: Beyond the Strategy: The Science Behind Meaningful, Engaged Literacy

Seminar* (optional, in person only), Room 127

Description: This interactive session explores the research behind literacy approaches that engage students through movement, interaction, and authentic encounters with text. Drawing on insights from multiple fields, we will investigate how various strategies impact comprehension, motivation, memory, and language development, uncovering connections for intentional pedagogical decision-making. Participants will consider how these principles can enhance classroom practice and deepen students’ engagement with reading while fostering literacy growth for learners across all proficiency levels. Whether joining for the first time or building on the previous session, attendees will leave with a deeper understanding of how these concepts cultivate lasting, impactful literacy experiences.

*Seminars are free of charge but require registration. Space is limited (in person only).

Snacks and exhibitors.

Michèle Braud: LDOE’s Novice Curriculum Framework

Erin Fell, Margaret Piccoli, Caitlin Cornell: Study Recruitment Presentation

Closing address by Erin Fell.