This article explores how a second-grade teacher challenged and supported students of varying language and literacy abilities to engage with complex material during a 14-week read-aloud unit focused on historical change-makers, and how engagement and comprehension through talk and writing changed for five purposefully selected students. Collaborative coding of whole-class and small-group discussions and student writing samples suggest students with higher English Language Development (ELD) levels used exploratory talk and cited textual evidence from the start of the unit. Students with lower ELD levels grew in these abilities during the unit, particularly when small-group discussions were included. All students' ability to cite textual evidence in writing increased. Results indicate English learners can and should be engaging with and learning from complex texts and content.