use interest inventories to determine interests of shy students, then follow up by using these interests as bases for conversations or learning activities;
display their (good) artwork or assignments for others to see in the classroom;
assign them as a partner to, or promote their friendship with, a classmate who is popular and engages in frequent contact with peers;
check with these students frequently if they are prone to daydreaming;
help shy children to set social development goals and assist them by providing training in assertiveness, initiating interactions with peers, or other social skills;
provide them with information needed to develop social insight (e.g., explaining that new students often have trouble making friends at first, or that teasing does not necessarily mean that peers do not like you), suggesting ways for them to initiate productive peer contacts or to respond more effectively to peer initiations;
provide them with a designated role that will give them something to do and cause them to interact with others in social situations in which they might otherwise become shy and retreat to the fringes of the group;
teach them social "door openers" for greeting others and speaking to them in person or on the telephone, especially assertive requests ("Can I play, too?");
make time to talk with them each day, even if just for a few minutes, and listen carefully and respond specifically to what they tell you; and
use bibliotherapy materials such as The Shy Little Girl, a story by P. Krasilovsky about a sad and shy girl who becomes more outgoing.