A teacher's manual is presented for "The Working Experience," a series of three texts for English-as-a-Second-Language (ESL) students. The series builds on oral skills to develop reading and writing ability while still expanding oral English-language proficiency. Because one of the basic principles underlying the series is the idea that students learn best when the content relates to their daily lives, the words and concepts introduced have immediate importance. The readings and exercises allow students to share learning experiences in a flexible, multilevel format. The series uses as its basic text stories told by other adult ESL students. The three student texts (Books 1, 2, and 3) that comprise "The Working Experience" contain increasingly difficult readings and exercises that focus on conversation skills, grammatical structure, and vocabulary development. Each lesson ends with an activity to encourage open-ended discussion and written expression. The teacher's manual includes an overview of the series, guidelines for using the language experience and for facilitating reading, and suggestions for teaching each lesson and for using the series in multilevel classrooms. Separate guidelines are provided for Books, 1, 2, and 3. (Adjunct ERIC Clearinghouse on Literacy Education) (LB)