Produced in response to a school board's directive to develop a plan for implementing a standardized curriculum in the basic subjects on a district-wide basis, this resource guide is intended to provide teachers with ideas and materials that will assist them in teaching a language arts basic skills course for middle school and junior high school students. The guide contains (1) an instructional standards checklist, which outlines the skills, standards, and objectives emphasized in the course; (2) reference sheets providing lists of resources that are available for teaching particular language arts skills and objectives; and (3) an index to a series of instructional packets that were developed for each skill emphasized in the course. Appendixes contain reading and spelling vocabulary lists, a statement of minimum standards for student performance, an individual record chart for use by both teachers and students to keep track of work completed in the instructional packets, a student profile chart for use by students and parents, and an overview of the course objectives. (FL)