Skill Sharpeners, Third Edition, by Judy DeFilippo and Charles Skidmore, is a four-level series especially designed for students whose skills in English require strengthening. By introducing basic skills tied to classroom subjects in a simple grammatical framework, the series helps to prepare these students for academic success. The Skill Sharpeners series bridges the gap between English Language Learning and regular school subjects. With all students, it reinforces confidence and self-esteem. Each level of the series offers exercises to sharpen both language and subject-area skills. Students interpret graphs and charts, read maps, solve math word problems, and learn library and study skills. They sharpen comprehension skills as they read about history, science, and American culture. And they deepen their understanding of basic English structure. Lessons cover skills required on most middle school state-competency tests. The Third Edition of Skill Sharpeners preserves all the features of the earlier edition and updates content. A favorite with teachers nationwide, Skill Sharpeners remains dedicated to helping students sharpen their skills in all facets of English communication.Features *Higher-order thinking skills and writing. *Survival skills necessary for coping with a new environment. *Abundance of content area reading and writing activities. *Comprehensive review of language structures. *Self-contained lessons. *Test-taking strategies.

Table of Contents:

Unit 1       Biggest and Best

Getting to Know You (Interviewing, making an oral report)

Complete the Sentence (Reviewing grammar, completing a cloze exercise)

Whose Are They? (Forming and using possessive nouns and adjectives, restating ideas in different ways)

Long, Longer, Longest (Forming and using comparatives and superlatives, including those of good, using vocabulary in context)

Cars and Houses (Using comparatives, interpreting data)

That’s Superlative! (Forming and using superlatives, writing descriptive paragraphs)

Similes (Understanding and creating similes)

In the Newspaper: the Index (Classifying, identifying main idea, using an index, learning about newspapers, interpreting section headings)

Whose Is It? (Deductive problem solving, reading for details)

Dear Dot (Reading for main idea, making inferences, generalizing from experiences, expressing opinions in writing)

Unit 2       Saying It Simply

How Do They Do It? (Forming and using adverbs, using the comparative form of adverbs, using context to complete sentences)

How Did They Say It? (Using adverbs, building vocabulary, using context to complete sentences)

Summing Up (Reading for main idea, writing a summary)

In Short (Reading for main idea, choosing relevant details, writing a summary)

In the Newspaper: Writing Headlines (Reading for main idea, writing headlines, learning about newspapers, determining meaning from context)

Read All About It (Making judgments, categorizing, expanding vocabulary)

Adjective or Adverb? (Choosing between adjectives and adverbs, building vocabulary, internalizing grammar rules)