Bridges Connecting Language & Literacy Conference

Multilingual learners are often expected to read complex texts, participate in academic discussions, and produce disciplinary writing before they have been given sufficient opportunities to develop and rehearse their thinking and language. These are opportunity gaps—not deficits within students.

In this interactive session, participants will experience Map–Talk–Write™, a transferable instructional framework that moves from a structured ELD routine and collaborative meaning-making to purposeful academic talk and independent writing. Participants will examine how the framework makes thinking visible, strengthens language fluency, and supports executive functioning, perspective-taking, metacognition, and learner agency. They will also explore how Map–Talk–Write™ can provide multilingual learners greater access to rigorous reading, reasoning, discussion, and writing across English language arts, science, and social studies—without lowering expectations.

Structured literacy and explicit phonics intervention are essential for students with word-recognition needs. But what happens when students complete a phonics intervention and remain two or more years below grade level?

The Active View of Reading helps educators understand why. Reading development depends not only on word recognition and language comprehension, but also on the bridging processes that connect them—including fluency, vocabulary, morphology, syntax, cognitive flexibility, motivation, and active self-regulation. A student may become more accurate at decoding while still struggling to read connected text fluently, construct meaning, monitor comprehension, or communicate understanding through speaking and writing.

In this session, participants will learn how a human-centered Literacy Opportunity Gap Analysis uses the Active View of Reading to determine what Tier 3 support should become after foundational decoding instruction. Participants will examine how multiple sources of evidence can reveal students’ remaining needs, preserve their structured literacy gains, and establish a more precise pathway toward grade-level reading, writing, confidence, and independence.