The Newcomer Booklet has become a popular classroom activity among ESL teachers at many different levels and with many types of learners. In this article, we explore why this is the case and why this type of project works so well for a particular population of English language learners, those with limited or interrupted formal schooling. We situate our discussion within a framework that we have developed after working extensively with this population. This framework, the Mutually Adaptive Learning Paradigm (MALP) helps ESL teachers of such learners to understand why a project like the Newcomer Booklet is so successful. MALP identifies ways to combine elements of the students' familiar learning paradigm and those associated with westernized formal education. By extension, ESL teachers can use MALP to help them maximize the effectiveness of other activities or projects.