I worked with Jr. High migrant kids back a few years. Now mine all spoke a bit of English and this is what helped with me.
- I let them converse with one another in Spanish. I was very limited with my Spanish and it took a LOT of trust on my part, but they are able to help one another when they talk. They told me that most, non-Spanish people wouldn't let them do that because, well probably because they were worried that they were being talked about.
And, truthfully, I never heard them talking about me. And I actually had enough Spanish and eventually learned the kids well enough to know when they were misbehaving or attempting to cheat.
- Remember some of the easier and more basic words are the ones that confuse them the most. One of my girls use to confuse, "yellow" and "jello". Very basic words but completely different meanings.
- And, especially with the younger kids, try reading to them a bit in their language. The nice thing about Spanish is that it is pretty easy to sound out as you go - even if you don't know what you're saying. Sure, you're going to screw up here and there, and the kids will know it but it will also help them understand that you (the adult) makes mistakes when you're learning to read.
These were things that I did in my very non-professional capacity of working with Spanish speaking kids. It was one of the best jobs I ever had.
Does anyone have experience with ESL programs?
HAPPY HOLIDAYS!
) I actually impressed them because one girl said something simple when we were playing a math dice game and I commented on it without even thinking about it. (I had years of high school Spanish and lived in a Spanish speaking country as a child many moon ago!). They could not believe that I could understand them!!! It was funny 
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