Creating a Culturally Inclusive Classroom: Supporting Newcomer English Learners
Welcoming newcomer English learners into a middle or high school setting is about more than just teaching language—it’s about helping them navigate a new cultural landscape while ensuring they feel valued for who they are. Acculturation doesn’t mean abandoning one’s home culture but rather learning to balance and integrate new customs with familiar traditions.
Teachers play a crucial role in this process, providing both a safe space and structured opportunities for students to learn about their new environment while staying connected to their roots.
Here are 5 actionable strategies to help ease the transition into an unfamiliar school environment.
1
School Scavenger Hunt: Learn Through Exploration
A school can feel overwhelming for newcomers. Instead of handing them a map and hoping they find their way, turn orientation into an interactive game. In a "School Scavenger Hunt," students explore key areas—like the library, cafeteria, and administrative offices—by following clues about each location’s function.
What does it look like in action?
An ELD teacher recently tried this approach with her class of newcomer multilingual learners. “At first, my students were hesitant to move around the school. But once they started working together, you could see the excitement grow,” she said. “By the end of the activity, they had not only found all the locations but also picked up critical functional vocabulary and built a positive classroom culture so they were no longer afraid to practice speaking aloud in English."
2
Create Cultural Map Collage: Honoring Backgrounds While Making Connections
All newcomers bring with them rich cultural experiences that can be shared and celebrated. A "Cultural Map Collage" activity allows students to illustrate their traditions, holidays, and values. Students can create the collage digitally (using a slide deck and images from the internet) or using physical media (cutting out magazine clippings or printing out images from the web) highlighting the most treasured cultural traditions from their home country. To encourage more collaboration and team-building, pair or group students with similar backgrounds and home languages for this part of the task. Then, using a graphic organizer, they can come together to compare these elements with aspects of American school life in a whole-class instructional setting. 
What does it look like in action?
One teacher described how he adapted this project into a class-wide discussion around important holidays. “A student from Mexico shared a photo of a family gathering for Día de los Muertos in their collage. Another newcomer from Vietnam talked about Tết Trung Thu (Mid-Autumn Festival.) It sparked curiosity about cultural events around the world and helped other students recognize points of connection—like how a common thread across many different cultures is to use food and celebration to bring families together."
3
The Buddy System: Building Peer Connections
Walking into a school where everything is unfamiliar can be intimidating. Pairing newcomers with a student buddy—ideally a multilingual peer or a trained student mentor—can make all the difference.
What does it look like in action?
At Westfield High, teachers implemented a buddy system where bilingual students helped guide newcomers through their first weeks. A recent arrival from Syria was paired with a Spanish-English bilingual student who had arrived just two years earlier. “At first, she [the newcomer student] barely spoke,” the bilingual student shared. “But once she realized I had been through the same thing, she started asking me questions. Now, she’s part of our lunch group, and we continue to help her around school. She’s a really fast learner!”
4
Show-and-Tell with a Twist: Sharing Personal Narratives
For older students, traditional "Show-and-Tell" can feel childish, but an adapted version encourages storytelling and cross-cultural exchange. Ask students to bring an object, photo, or even a short story from their home country. Rather than just presenting it, they work in pairs or small groups to discuss how it connects to their identity and experiences.
What does it look like in action?
In a designated ELD class, a student from Afghanistan shared a small woven rug, with help from using sentence frames and starters they were able to briefly explain its cultural significance. A classmate was able to relate it to a quilt that had been passed down in her own family. These small moments of connection help foster a sense of belonging for all students.
5
Understanding Social Norms Through Role-Playing
Unspoken school norms, such as raising a hand to speak, forming a line, or even making small talk, can be a source of confusion. Instead of assuming students will instinctively pick up these norms, introduce role-playing activities where students act out common social interactions, from ordering lunch to asking for help from a teacher. Start by modeling different approaches providing students with useful phrases, showing what body language and eye contact look like, and finally practice in small groups covering varying topics and situations.
What does it look like in action?
A teacher noticed one of his students from El Salvador seemed withdrawn in group work. After a role-play activity on how to politely enter a conversation, she started engaging more. “She told me she just didn’t know the right way to join in,” he shared. He explained that before she jumps in, it helps to listen for a natural pause in a conversation. Then he provided her with some simple, respectful phrases, like, “Can I add something?” and gave her small group opportunities for practice. “Now she feels more comfortable speaking up,” the teacher reported.
How to Help Newcomers Thrive
When educators take intentional steps to bridge cultures, they create an inclusive environment where English learners can thrive both academically and socially. Acculturation isn't about replacing one culture with another—it’s about creating a space where students feel seen, valued, and capable of navigating their new world.
By implementing thoughtful strategies like these, educators can turn cultural differences into opportunities for connection—helping newcomer students find a home in their new school without losing the richness of where they came from.
Ready to Transform Your Classroom?
Language Tree Online offers a hybrid newcomer curriculum that includes a specialized acculturation module designed to introduce recently-arrived students to American school life while respecting their backgrounds. The curriculum addresses structured language development alongside cultural integration, helping newcomers with social and emotional development as they build critical language skills needed for academic success.