Intended for adult basic education teachers faced with the need to assess students who are terrified of tests, this resource unit guide presents several devices that can be used to assess both precise and general learning patterns in nonthreatening ways. The opening section of the guide stresses the importance of establishing priorities and goals for the students to work toward, describes the kind of activities that the unit contains, suggests ways to observe and help students while they are engaged in the activities, and suggests when and how much data should be collected. After a list of suggested listening activities, the rest of the guide presents a variety of puzzle types--"cat to ape," crossword, cryptograms, and caption picture puzzles--that can be used to check the ability to decode and encode, the range of aural/oral vocabulary, the ability to follow sequence or directions, and understanding of language structures. (JL)