"NorthStar, Fifth Edition is an integrated-skills English course that empowers adult and young adult English language learners to achieve their academic and personal goals. Current and thought-provoking topics promote language development and critical thinking skills.

Building on the success of previous editions, this new fifth edition engages and motivates students with new and updated content.

What is new in the fifth edition?
New and updated content with a new theme keeps students motivated.
The new design and imagery bring the activities to life.
Learning outcomes are created using the Global Scale of English (GSE) so students can track their progress more easily.
Every unit offers note-taking practice and writing skill development.
Scaffolded critical thinking activities are clearly marked to help students develop their academic skills.
Academic Word List words are highlighted to help students identify essential vocabulary.
New and updated activities in MyEnglishLab provide additional practice online.
ExamView Test Generator allows teachers to customize assessments.
Students can complete activities, listen to audio, and watch video on the go with the Pearson Practice English App." (Book Cover)

SCOPE AND SEQUENCE

Unit 1: GENIUS: NATURE OR NURTURE?
Reading 1: A Genius Explains -- Reading 2: 10,000 Hours to mastery
Inference: Understanding assumptions
Note-Taking: Taking notes by marking important information
Reading: Distinguishing voice in quotations
Grammar: Past perfect
Revise: Identifying and correcting sentence fragments Final Writing Task: A summary paragraph
Video: Child prodigies
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Write a report on a genius

Unit 2: FACING LIFE'S OBSTACLES
Reading 1: A Life of Twists and Turns: The Education of Frank McCourt -- Reading 2: Marla Runyan Has Never Lost Sight of Her Goals Note-Taking: Inferring the meaning of idioms and expressions
Reading: Recognizing positive redundancy
Grammar: Gerunds and infinitives
Revise: Choosing appropriate supporting sentences
Final Writing Task: A biographical paragraph
Video: A girl with autism
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Write a biographical essay on a famous person who has overcome an obstacle

Unit 3: MAKING MEDICAL DECISIONS
Reading 1: Genetic Testing and Disease: Would you want to know? -- Reading 2: Norman Cousins's Laughter Therapy Inference: Inferring degree of support
Note-Taking: Taking notes on cause and effect with a graphic organizer
Reading: Organizing the sequence of events in a time line
Grammar: Past unreal conditionals
Revise: Writing introductions and hooks
Final Writing Task: An opinion essay
Video: Sleep deprivation and health issues
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Prepare a written presentation on genetic testing

Unit 4: INSTINCT OR INTELLECT?
Reading 1: Extreme Perception and Animal Intelligence -- Reading 2: How Smart are Animals?
Inference: Inferring the use of hedging
Note-Taking: Taking notes with outlining
Reading: Recognizing the role of quoted speech
Grammar: Adjective clause
Revise: Paraphrasing
Final Writing Task: A summary in journalistic style
Video: Talking to animals
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Write a research summary on a famous animal

Unit 5: TOO MUCH OF A GOOD THING?
Reading 1: Death Do Us Part -- Reading 2: Toward Immortality: The Social Burden of Longer Lives
Inference: Inferring attitudes and feelings
Note-Taking: Taking notes with signposts
Reading: Using titles and headings to identify main ideas
Grammar: Simple past, present perfect, and present perfect progressive
Revise: Using figurative language

Final Writing Task: A descriptive essay
Video: The long lives of the residents of Acciaroli
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Write a report about a part of the world where people live long lives using questions as guides

Unit 6: MAKING A DIFFERENCE
Reading 1: Justin Lebo -- Reading 2: Some Take the Time Gladly and Problems with Mandatory Volunteering
Inference: Inferring people's reactions
Note-Taking: Taking compare and contrast notes with a t-chart
Reading: Recognizing persuasive language
Grammar: Concessions
Revise: Writing introductions and thesis statements
Final Written Task: A persuasive essay
Video: Philanthropy
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Create a powerpoint presentation or poster about philanthropy in your community

Unit 7: AN OCEAN OF PROBLEMS
Reading 1: Sea Unworthy: A Personal Journey into the Pacific Garbage Patch -- Reading 2: The Proposals to Clean Up Our Oceans of Garbage: Will Either Work?
Inference: Inferring the author's point of view and possible bias
Note-Taking: Taking notes on pros and cons
Reading: Creating headings based on main ideas
Grammar: Subordinators and transitions
Revise: Writing conclusions
Final Writing Task: A problem-solution essay
Video: Water conservation in college dormitories
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Create a powerpoint or a presentation about a solution to an environmental issue

Unit 8: MANAGING YOUR SMARTPHONE
Reading 1: Smartphone-Induced Problems in the Twenty-First Century -- Reading 2: Unplugging Wired Kids: A Vacation from Technology and Social Media
Inference: Inferring an authors' appeal to authority
Note-Taking: Taking three-column notes to show time sequence
Reading: Identifying referents for the pronoun it
Grammar: Subordinators and prepositional phrases
Revise: Using transitions
Final Written Task: A cause-and-efffect essay
Video: Video games
Assessments: Pre-Unit Diagnostic: Check What You Know -- Checkpoint 1 -- Checkpoint 2 -- Unit Achievement Test
Unit Project: Conduct research and give a powerpoint presentation about the evolution of a technological device