This booklet explains that teachers need to upgrade the strategies they use to help students who are learning English as a Second Language (ESL), describing several strategies that have been derived from advances in bilingual education and ESL research during the last 20 years. The introduction explains first language acquisition. The next section focuses on second language acquisition, describing four stages that children must go through at their own pace: preproduction (the silent period), early production, speech emergence, and intermediate fluency. The third section explains how to work with parents and other caregivers, whose English fluency and attitudes about having their children learn English significantly influence their children's English acquisition. The fourth section examines the role of technology in helping ESL children (computer assisted instruction and e-mail, interactive audio, video, and the Internet). The fifth section discusses the English-only controversy, focusing on bilingual programs, ESL programs, and English-only programs. The booklet concludes that teachers and caregivers must be familiar with all the program options and approaches available to serve language minority students and provide a classroom environment conducive to learning. (Contains 10 references.) (SM)