| Multistate Association for Bilingual Education, Northeast A nonprofit organization for educators, families, and policy makers. |
Summer InstituteEvery summer, we are joined by our colleagues to meet, learn, and get ready for the coming school year at our Summer Institute Professional Development. We offer a variety of professional learning topics for experienced and novice teachers and leaders in Dual Language Bilingual Education (DLBE). During summer we don’t just recharge and rest, but we also work ardently to prepare for the next school year.
SESSION DESCRIPTIONS WEEK 1 DLBE Essentials: What and Why
Facilitator(s): Rachel Gately
Date & Time: Monday, August 3, 9:30-11:30am Description: Coming soon. DLBE Middle School Considerations
Facilitator(s): Luz Mendes Date & Time: Monday, August 3, 12:30-2:30pm Description: NEW! Coming soon. DLBE Essentials: The How
Facilitator(s): Rachel Gately
Date & Time: Tuesday, August 4, 9:30-11:30am Description: Coming soon. Students as Language Detectives: Using metalinguistic awareness to build vocabulary in two languages
Facilitator(s): Rachel Gately Date & Time: Tuesday, August 4, 12:30-2:30pm Description: In this PD, participants will explore classroom tested metalinguistic strategies to help students build their own vocabulary and discover connections across languages. Participants will take on the role of a student to complete a routine that can be flexibly implemented in any classroom. Participants will leave with strategies and resources that can be implemented immediately, as well as ideas on how to get students excited to take ownership of their own learning and how to make vocabulary fun! DLBE Essentials: Curriculum Alignment
Facilitator(s): Dr. Meg Burns & Elissa Washburn
Date & Time: Wednesday, August 5, 9:30-11:30am Description: This session will introduce and differentiate between two essential components of DLBE planning: the language allocation plan and curriculum alignment plan. We will discuss why creating these two plans prior to program launch will help ensure program success and district systemic coherence. We will build capacity for designing units that support and extend instruction between the two partner languages across content areas. Así Se Dice & Dictado
Facilitator(s): Elissa Washburn
Date & Time: Tuesday, August 4, 12:30-2:30pm Description: This session is designed to share strategies from Literacy Squared’s Así Se Dice to explicitly teach cross linguistic connections in Spanish DLE classrooms. Participants will discuss how to write targeted metalinguistic awareness language objectives that compare and contrast English and a partner language in a contextualized setting, focusing on the difference between literal and conceptual translations. We will also share strategies from Literacy Squared’s Dictado to explicitly teach phonics, syntax and grammar in Spanish DLE classrooms. Participants will discuss how to write targeted metalinguistic awareness language objectives for dictation exercises that allow students to increase their academic language through writing and editing. Biliteracy Trajectories as MTSS Assessment
Facilitator(s): Analiese Reigstad Date & Time: Thursday, August 6, 9:30-11:30am Description: NEW! Coming soon. Mapping Foundational Literacy Skills in K & 1
Facilitator(s): Jess Pires & Ashley Dupere Date & Time: Thursday, August 6, 12:30-2:30pm Description: NEW! Coming soon. Building Language Through Movement: Morning Meetings that Engage Multilingual Learners
Facilitator(s): Lizbeth Torres Date & Time: Friday, August 7, 9:30-11:30am Description: “Morning Meeting is a way to start our day in a nice, welcoming environment and headspace.” This session highlights how starting the day on a high note sets the tone for learning, engagement, and connection. Participants will explore how purposeful movement, interactive routines, and community-building activities support vocabulary development and oral language, especially for multilingual learners. Though rooted in the morning meeting, these routines can be embedded across all subject areas to break up the normalcy of day-to-day lessons and create more joyful, engaging, and interactive learning experiences. Attendees will leave with practical, ready-to-use strategies to build inclusive, language-rich classrooms where students feel confident, connected, and actively engaged throughout the day. NEW! Biliteracy Formative Assessment
Facilitator(s): Dr. Meg Burns Date & Time: Friday, August 7, 12:30-2:30pm Description: Coming soon. WEEK 2 Introduction to The Bridge
Facilitator(s): Elissa Washburn
Date & Time: Monday, August 10, 9:30-11:30am Description: This session is a brief introduction to The Bridge (based on Teaching for Biliteracy: Strengthening Bridges Between Languages) for teachers of DLE learners. We will review three components of the Bridge: a level one translation "bridge," a level two "Bridge" with a metalinguistic focus, and a follow-up activity to the bridge lesson. We will analyze a sample "bridge" from the elementary level and discuss the purpose of each of the three components. Participants will dive deeply into the metalinguistic awareness opportunities provided by the level two bridge and practice planning a sample bridge together. Welcoming Bilintual Learners with Disabilities into the DLBE Classroom
Facilitator(s): Cristina Sánchez-López & Theresa Young Date & Time: Monday, August 10, 12:30-2:30pm Description: As seen in #MABE2026. Coming soon. Mapping Cross-Linguistic Connections
Facilitator(s): Elissa Washburn
Date & Time: Tuesday, August 11, 9:30-11:30am Description: In this session, we will map out a plan for making cross linguistic connections between languages of instruction and plan intentionally for translanguaging in the dual language classroom. We will label different types of translanguaging using Liz Howard and Shera Simpson’s vocabulary from Tandem Teaching using examples and consider the pros and cons of these types. We will purposefully plan ways to make cross linguistic connections both synchronously and asynchrounously and strategically plan for translanguaging in DLBE classrooms. Developing Culturally and Linguistically Appropriate IEPs for Multilingual Learners with Special Education Needs
Facilitator(s): Christina Sánchez-López Date & Time: Tuesday, August 11, 12:30-2:30pm Description: As seen in #MABE2026. Coming soon. Entre Dos Sistemas Lingüísticos: Un Enfoque Contrastivo de las Destrezas Fundamentales del Españolicémoste y el Inglés
Facilitator(s): Ayda Parras Rojas Date & Time: Wednesday, August 12, 9:30-11:30am Description: As seen in #MABE2026. Coming soon. Conectando a alfabetização entre idiomas: Estratégias eficazes para o ensino bilíngue em inglês e português
Facilitator(s): Silvia Lima Date & Time: Wednesday, August 12, 9:30-11:30am Description: This professional development session will focus on how literacy instruction differs — and aligns — across English and Portuguese. Participants will explore key contrasts in phonology, morphology, orthography, grammar, and vocabulary development. This session will help teachers leverage these differences to strengthen biliteracy and engage students more effectively across both languages. Culturally and Linguistically Responsive MTSS: Tier1+ Critical Factors to Examine for Multilingual Learners Experienceing Challenges
Facilitator(s): Christina Sánchez-López Date & Time: Wednesday, August 12, 12:30-2:30pm Description: As seen in #MABE2026. Coming soon. Más que gestos... Total Physical Response and Adapted Reader's Theater in the Classroom
Facilitator(s): Sarah Rodriguez & Kaeley Vera Date & Time: Thursday, August 13, 9:30-11:30am Description: Many of us use gestures when we teach to help with student comprehension, but there are ways to take it to the next level to engage students, increase comprehensible input, and build academic vocabulary. In this session, participants will learn specific strategies that can be used in any grade level and content area. You will get a chance to apply the strategies to create materials to use in your classroom and with your own topics/units. As seen in #MABE2026. DLBE Teacher Preparation with the EMMA Standards
Facilitator(s): Joan Lachance Date & Time: Thursday, August 13, 12:30-2:30pm Description: As seen in #MABE2026. Coming soon. Achieving a Multicultural Classroom Through Mindful Changes
Facilitator(s): Jennifer Adams & Elena Schmitt Date & Time: Friday, August 14, 9:30-11:30am Description: Achieving a Multicultural Classroom Through Mindful Changes demonstrates how intentional instructional shifts — like integrating students’ cultural and linguistic backgrounds — boost engagement and language development. Grounded in sociocultural competence, this approach teaches students to value their own identities while navigating diverse perspectives. By framing curricula as both “mirrors and windows,” the presentation shows how to maintain academic rigor while diversifying access points to create a truly inclusive, responsive environment. As seen in #MABE2026. Scaffolding for Oracy
Facilitator(s): Elissa Washburn Date & Time: Friday, August 14, 12:30-2:30pm Description: In this session, participants will learn to backwards plan for language in oral conversation by writing clear and effective langauge objectives with language functions and features. They will create a variety of scaffolding tiers to support oral language for students at different levels of language aquisition. We will also briefly review strategies for extending discourse in the classroom including academic conversations, collaborative structures and visible thinking routines. Information about some facilitators can be found in our Staff & Associates page. |
Summer Institute Frequently Asked Questions
- Will I receive a Certificate of Attendance/PDP? After each session, you will be asked to complete an evaluation. Once the evaluation for the sessions you attend has closed, we email you an Attendance Certificate with your Professional Development Points based on the hours you attended.
Attendance Certificates are to be sent to attendees that completed evaluations on the first week of September 2026. - When is Summer Institute and how long is each session? This virtual PD takes place throughout two weeks: Week 1, August 3-7 and Week 2, August 10-14. We have found that two hours is the most comfortable length for a virtual PD session. This year we are offering morning sessions at 9:30-11:30am and afternoon sessions at 12:30-2:30pm.
- Is Summer Institute virtual or in-person? Based on previous attendee feedback, the institute is entirely virtual. Zoom links will be sent out a week prior.
- I am a DLBE teacher/educator. How do I know which sessions are right for me? This year we have created different "tracks" for a variety of educators. Visit Summer Institute 20-26 Tracks to identify your track and view suggested sessions: Novice DLBE Leader Track, Veteran DLBE Leader Track, Novice DLBE Teacher Track, Veteran DLBE Teacher Track, DLBE Special Educator Track, DLBE Middle School Track, Novice DLBE Coach Track, Veteran DLBE Coach Track. Tracks are suggestions to customize your PD - pick and choose from any of the sessions!
- Can I register a large group from my district? Yes! For groups larger than 4, please reach out to megburns@mabene.org for your unique group registration form. Due to the complexities of registration types and our website structure, we prefer this process for large groups. Please note that ensuring full attendance and participation of registrants is a priority for MABE. To avoid absences, please confirm with all educators you are registering that they plan to attend all required sessions.
- Is there a group registration discount? Unfortunately, we do not provide group registration discounts for the Summer Institute at this time.
- How much does the Summer Institute cost? The registration cost per each two-hour session for members is $110. Non-members have an additional one-time $50 charge (this is for yearly membership fee – learn more about MABE member benefits here). When registering, first select your member status, and then select the sessions you would like to attend. Per our Payment Policy, MABE must receive payment or Purchase Order numbers by the date registration closes (send to elissawashburn@mabene.org). Sorry, American Express cards not accepted. Read our Cancellation & Refund Policy for more information about transferring event registrations and cancellations refunds.
Don't just take our word for it! What did your colleagues have to say about Summer Institute last year?
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