The language of school is demanding; much of the content is decontextualized and abstract, and it concerns matters that are far removed from the daily life. Students are expected to learn about rain forests and prime numbers, literary motifs, and historical events that occurred centuries ago. Consider the additional cognitive demands confronting ELLs, who must tackle academic language and translate between their native language and English. For students who are recent immigrants with limited formal schooling, the classroom environment is even more complicated. Their teachers must teach not only the content, but also the language and social demands of the lesson. Understanding the purpose of their learning activities in all three areas--"content," "language," and "social interaction"--can help ELLs excel. These three areas are described in this article. A video is presented by a 6th grade English teacher who introduces a lesson by walking students through the content, language, and social learning purposes they will achieve.