Helen Solorzano

The new and improved Listening and Speaking strand now offers an Interactive Student Book powered by MyEnglishLab. The Interactive Student Book allows students and teachers to better assess progress. Teachers can now monitor student performance to personalize learning and increase student motivation. The five-level NorthStar series engages students through a seamless integration of compelling online content and empowers them to achieve their academic and personal goals in order to meet the challenges of the 21st century. • Current and thought-provoking listening selections from a variety of contrasting authentic genres stimulate students intellectually. Authentic content engages students, links them to language use outside the classroom, and encourages critical thinking and personal expression. • Explicit language skills are reinforced and practiced using models from the unit listening selections, while the pronunciation and speaking skill selections expose students to the sounds and patterns of English to prepare them to express their ideas on a higher level. • Productive vocabulary and grammar structures are targeted, reviewed, practiced, and expanded upon for the final speaking task. • Group projects inspire students to inquire further and prepare students to engage in real-world activities. The projects incorporate Internet research, helping students build digital literacy skills. • A variety of online assessments tied to learning outcomes allows teachers to individualize instruction and track student progress. • Teacher Resources in MyEnglishLab include the scope and sequence, digital student book, downloadable achievement tests, classroom audio, audioscripts, video activities, videoscripts, teacher’s manual, answer keys, and a downloadable placement test.

Focus on Writing is an academic writing program that provides students with essential tools to master not only the key steps in the writing process, but also the grammatical structures, lexical knowledge, and rhetorical modes essential for academic writing. This five-level series progresses with students as they grow in confidence and ability from sentence level (Book 1) through paragraphs (Books 1–3) and essays (Books 3–5). Each unit leads writers step-by-step through the process of prewriting, writing a first draft, revising, and editing before producing a final draft. Not only do students write an entire paragraph or essay in each unit, they are also given plenty of practice at the sentence and word levels. Features: Each unit teaches students how to use one or more common organizational structures: narrative, description, opinion, persuasion, compare-contrast, problem-solution, and cause-effect. High-interest readings and a choice of writing assignments provide a springboard for students’ writing. Grammar presentation and practice correlated to Focus on Grammar make the connection between grammar and writing clear. Building Word Knowledge mini-lessons and exercises teach students’ how to use word forms, collocations, idioms, compounds, descriptive details, phrasal verbs and other types of vocabulary in their writing. Revision and Editing checklists for each writing assignment help students rewrite and polish their first drafts. Online Teacher’s Manuals contain model lesson plans, unit overviews, timed writing assignments, authentic student models, and answer keys.

Who are some of the key figures in the history of abstract art? Can video games be good for children? What are some ethical approaches to decision-making? You’ll find the answers to these and other questions in Contemporary Topics 1, which features college lectures from several academic disciplines, including art history, media studies, and psychology. Contemporary Topics 1 prepares students for the challenge of college lectures with practice in a wide range of listening, speaking and note-taking skills and strategies. The lectures (available on CD and DVD) were filmed in realistic academic setting before live student audiences. DVD Features Realistic college lectures from a range of academic disciplines (also on audio CDs)Student discussions of the lectures (also on audio CDs)Instructors’ Presentation PointsCoaching Tips that guide students as they take notesSubtitles for lectures and student discussions Course Features Corpus-based vocabulary drawn from the Academic Word ListPractical listening and note-taking strategiesNote-review practice that allows students to analyze their note-taking skills and consolidate their understanding of the lectureAcademic research and speaking tasks: presentation, discussions, and role playsA Teacher’s Pack for busy instructors with: Suggested bonus activitiesTeaching notesAnswer keysAudioscriptsSimulated TOEFL® Listening Test for each unit See also: Contemporary Topics Introductory (High Beginner) Contemporary Topics 2 (High Intermediate) Contemporary Topics 3 (Advanced)

Northstar, now in a new edition, motivates students to succeed in their academic as well as personal language goals. For each of the five levels, the two strands - Reading and Writing and Listening and Speaking - provide a fully integrated approach for students and teachers. What is Special about the New Edition? New Themes and Updated Content - presented in a variety of genres and in authentic materials - challenge and engage students intellectually. Enhanced Focus on Academic Skills, more purposeful integration of critical thinking, and an enhanced focus on academic skills such as inferencing, synthesizing, notetaking, and test taking help students develop strategies for success in the classroom and on standardized tests. A structured approach gives students opportunities for more extended and creative oral practice, for example, presentations, simulations, debates, speeches, public service announcements and more. A New Design with full color pages, more photos, illustrations, and graphic organizers fosters student engagement and makes the content come alive. MyNorthStarLab, the easy-to-use online companion of the NorthStar series, saves time and improves student results. Saves Time With automatically graded exercises for every unit of each book, instructors no longer have to create or grade homework. This gives them more time to prepare classroom lessons. Instructors can choose exercises and set due dates with just a few clicks. Homework for an entire semester can be set up in less than an hour. Improves Results Students have more opportunities to practice English in more ways - from video exercises and audio discussion boards to vocabulary games and academic practice. These new exercises help students learn more English, more quickly. Immediate feedback on their performance allows students to come to class better prepared. If students do not pass a section of a unit test, they automatically receive new exercises targeting areas that need improvement. The MyNorthStarLab Access Code card is also available on its own, without the Student Book.

NorthStar: Building Skills for the TOEFL® iBT: High Intermediate, by Helen Solórzano (Series Editors: Frances Boyd and Carol Numrich) is published in cooperation with ETS. Pearson Longman and ETS combine their expertise in language learning and test development to create an innovative approach to building the skills assessed in the new TOEFL® Internet-based test (iBT). Each text features Ten thematic units to develop academic skills in English while building test-taking confidence Integrated skill practice to develop critical thinking and communicative competence Authentic TOEFL® iBT practice sets created by ETS especially for this series Practical tips to sharpen test-taking strategies Teacher's Manuals with evaluation tools to track students' progress and actual student responses (speaking and writing) at all score levels Available in Intermediate, High Intermediate, Advanced levels. Use NorthStar: Building Skills for the TOEFL® iBT with the integrated skills series NorthStar to build a strong foundation for success on the TOEFL® iBT. (ETS, the ETS logo, and TOEFL are used registered trademarks of Educational Testing Service (ETS), used under license by Pearson Longman.)