NorthStar NorthStar, Fourth Edition, a five-level series, engages students through authentic and compelling content and empowers them to achieve their academic and personal goals. The approach to critical thinking in both the Reading/Writing and Listening/Speaking strands challenges students to move beyond basic comprehension to higher-level analysis.Conceptualized to promote critical thinking, NorthStar infuses analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and application throughout every lesson, not just in a critical thinking section like in other series.