Gods and Gifts

When Zeus asks Prometheus and his brother, Epimetheus, to fill the world with living creatures, Epimetheus gives all the gifts to the animals. Unfortunately, there is no gift left for man. Prometheus wants something special for the humans, so he sneaks up to Mount Olympus to steal fire from the gods! Zeus gets his revenge on Prometheus by chaining him to a rock. Then he sets out to punish humans for accepting the forbidden gift. This humorous version of the Greek creation myth is told in three parts and features the first three stories of Level 1 of the HOT ROD series of decodable books: No Gift for Man, The Bandit, and The Box. It includes extensive background information about early humans and their use of fire as well as a comparison to the creation stories of the Classical Maya and other indigenous people. The background information may be read independently by students in sixth grade and up. It may be read aloud to younger students, or they may listen to the audio version. The combination of prose and verse will delight people of all ages. At Word Travel Press, we believe that meaningful, fun content is important for developing strong readers. We have created the HOT ROD series to complement any reading program. This book was specially designed for older students who would benefit from controlled reading practice, but it isn’t just for them. It provides an opportunity for students of all levels to work on reading comprehension, complex sentence structure, and vocabulary. It encompasses a variety of reading levels and may be used by entire classrooms or homeschool educators working with students with a range of challenges and skills. Our stories and poems help students develop higher-order thinking through the Reading of Decodables. Students are exposed to higher-level vocabulary and sentence structure through a process called Pair and Share Reading. For information about the scope and sequence of HOT ROD and the progression from basic to advanced decoding, visit www.wordtravelpress.com. On the website, each book is supplemented with word flashcards, games, and online activities. Audiobooks are also available.The Gods and Gifts Activity Book, sold separately, provides additional Higher Order Thinking opportunities as well as activities for phonological awareness, morphology, structured word inquiry, vocabulary, sentence structure, comprehension, written language, cognitive flexibility, and more. Each section includes references linked to the Science of Reading.