Designed as a guide for remedial teachers, this handbook offers strategies for imparting standard eighth grade curriculum content, even as students are improving their reading, writing, speaking, and listening skills. The first part of the handbook contains the following: (1) a discussion of assessment for instructional planning, including norm-referenced, criterion-referenced, and teacher-made tests; (2) descriptions of a whole class reading lesson, word banks, and a small-group individualized tutorial; (3) suggestions for using the library and trade books as instructional materials, for using oral and sustained silent reading, for using writing, and for improving test taking skills through instruction. The second part of the handbook contains thematic units that integrate the communication arts, infuse career education into the communication arts, and teach literature in the content areas. Appendixes provide additional activities and assessment instruments. (FL)