Academic language is the formal language that is common in books and at school, but that students are unlikely to encounter in everyday conversations with friends and family. Not only is academic language critical to school achievement but it is also foundational for the true comprehension of contentrich subjects. Academic language should permeate the classroom learning environment, and inventive strategies to accomplish this important goal facilitate student progress. This article describes intentional instruction in activities using emoji to develop academic language, higher level thinking ability, and comprehension skills. Educators can create rich academic language classrooms--with or without the use of the emoji--by purposefully incorporating it into everyday instructional conversation. However, since emoji are omnipresent in students' everyday lives, it behooves educators to explore ways to make emoji work more productively in this critical foundational skill. This article examines the history of emoji use, defines academic language, and discusses the importance of academic language to reading and content comprehension. Additionally, several classroom strategies using emoji to improve academic language and reading comprehension are delineated.