I think you are wise to encourage the students to practice speaking in English. In order to make the speaking a positive experience, I encourage you to have the students read things that have already been grammar-checked.

In some of the early lessons, you could take part of the lesson to have the students read humorous stories written in basic English. Some of the Dr. Seuss stories might be appropriate. For some of the middle lessons, you could have them sing popular songs, or read excerpts from Kipling's children's stories. These have the advantage that you can check the grammar ahead of time, and the students will not accidentally practice incorrect grammar. For the later lessons, you might want to have each student write out a short speech. You could check the grammar, and then have the students read their speeches out loud.

I grew up in a town with many Punjabi immigrants.

Some of the Indian children were either born in the United States, or immigrated at an early age (e.g., before they were 9 years old). These children fluently read, spoke, and wrote in English. They were no more shy than any of the other children I grew up with. They also spoke multiple Indian languages, such as Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu. Because the elementary schools' ESL programs were designed for immigrants from Portugal and Latin America, the Indian children were essentially "immersed" in English-language classes. (ESL stands for English as a Second Language.) Some of these students (especially girls) went on to become school teachers.

Other Indians arrived as teenagers. They comprised a large fraction of the high school's ESL program. These students were very shy in English, and seemed more comfortable speaking Punjabi. The ESL teachers served as coaches for the cross-country, track, and soccer teams. (There was a boys' cross-country team. There were both boys' and girls' track and soccer teams.) The ESL teachers encouraged the ESL students to "go out for" the sports teams. All of the coaching was done in English, and the teams did quite well.

After I graduated, the school's foreign language department began offering a "Punjabi for Native Speakers" class. This class helps the Punjabi students satisfy the foreign language requirements for graduating from both high school and college.

I think you are wise to encourage the students to practice speaking in English. In order to make the speaking a positive experience, I encourage you to have the students read things that have already been grammar-checked.

In some of the early lessons, you could take part of the lesson to have the students read humorous stories written in basic English. Some of the Dr. Seuss stories might be appropriate. For some of the middle lessons, you could have them sing popular songs, or read excerpts from Kipling's children's stories. You could bring in an English-language newspaper, and have each student read (and maybe explain) the lead paragraph of a newspaper article. These have the advantage that you can check the grammar ahead of time, and the students will not accidentally practice incorrect grammar. For the later lessons, you might want to have each student write out a short speech. You could check the grammar, and then have the students read their speeches out loud.

I grew up in a town with many Punjabi immigrants.

Some of the Indian children were either born in the United States, or immigrated at an early age (e.g., before they were 9 years old). These children fluently read, spoke, and wrote in English. They were no more shy than any of the other children I grew up with. They also spoke multiple Indian languages, such as Punjabi, Hindi, and Urdu. Because the elementary schools' ESL programs were designed for immigrants from Portugal and Latin America, the Indian children were essentially "immersed" in English-language classes. (ESL stands for English as a Second Language.) Some of these students (especially girls) went on to become school teachers.

Other Indians arrived as teenagers. They comprised a large fraction of the high school's ESL program. These students were very shy in English, and seemed more comfortable speaking Punjabi. The ESL teachers served as coaches for the cross-country, track, and soccer teams. (There was a boys' cross-country team. There were both boys' and girls' track and soccer teams.) The ESL teachers encouraged the ESL students to "go out for" the sports teams. All of the coaching was done in English, and the teams did quite well.

After I graduated, the school's foreign language department began offering a "Punjabi for Native Speakers" class. This class helps the Punjabi students satisfy the foreign language requirements for graduating from both high school and college.