Public school educators in the United States are coping with the immigration of families from non-English speaking countries. Teachers are pressed by federal mandates to meet the challenges of increased cultural diversity and language deficiencies of students with new skills. This study explored the effectiveness of journaling between bilingual second grade students and their native English-speaking peers as an instrument for learning English as a second language (ESL). The journals were used as an integral part of ESL instruction in two classes of 18 English Language Learners (ELLs) in a constructivist oriented classroom environment. For a period of 6 weeks, 36 pairs of second graders corresponded with each other. An extensive analysis of student work included 2 classroom observations, 10 student interviews, and 1 focus group interview with the 4 participating teachers. Data collected during this investigation were coded into categories according to recurring themes and qualitatively analyzed to produce a coherent depiction of the research site. As a result of journaling with native speakers of English, ELLs increased their second language writing skills by 1 and 2 levels after scoring their writing with a holistic rubric. Results from this study are important for mainstream and ELL teachers, school administrators, and parents. Supporting students' second language acquisition in schools contributes to successfully meeting adequate yearly progress as required by the No Child Left Behind Act. Mastering the language of instruction affords students the opportunity to better understand what they are studying. During journaling, ELLs and native English speakers learned from each other in a fun way creating friendship, understanding, and acceptance between different racial and cultural groups within the school, which impacts society in a positive way. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]