THE ELEMENTAL ODYSSEY SERIES
Each book in the Elemental Odyssey series takes the reader on a hero’s journey through one of the four elements – earth, air, fire, and water. Our heroes must face their adventures by balancing personal strengths and challenges. The series teaches children to solve problems by drawing on what they've learned from parents, teachers, and mentors.
Author Mary Lee Soop, a National Board-Certified Teacher in reading and writing with 30 years in the classroom, knows that to keep children engaged you have to offer them a compelling story with characters they can relate to. She also recognizes the need for books that teachers can use to introduce both language and science concepts to both motivated and challenged learners alike. Mary's books are geared to students at all levels of learning and specifically address some of the educational, physical, and emotional challenges students face.
The books in the Elemental Odyssey series take readers on a journey through everyday struggles and unforeseen disasters, showing young readers that there is a hero in all of us.
Wildfire Ridge
Sinkhole
Sailing Blind
Flying Double
STEM -- Each book in the Elemental Odyssey Series uses fictional stories to inspire future scientists and explorers. The books incorporate in-depth knowledge of sailing, caves, sinkholes, forest fires, and flying. Students are encouraged to explore a range of science-related topics including weather, earth sciences, technology, geology, and health.
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LITERARY DEVICES -- Embedded in every book are literary devices such as foreshadowing, onomatopoeia, personification, metaphors/similes, symbolism, and characterization. At the end of each book, parents and teachers will find a Teacher Only section, highlighting the vocabulary, literary devices, and teaching themes for each chapter.
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CHARACTER BUILDING -- Each book focuses on an aspect of character building. The main character in each story begins his/her adventure with one of the "me" flaws – unhealthy doses of self-pity, a lack of or too much self-confidence, a need for self-control, and an overabundance of self-importance. The characters also face the challenges of divorce, bullying, dyslexia, peer pressure, illness, and loss while battling the external forces of the elements. Readers see our heroes overcome their external and internal struggles to survive and thrive.
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MENTORS -- All the books in the Elemental Odyssey Series highlight an important mentor — a teacher, instructor, parent, or elder — who helps the main characters find their way safely home. These books teach students that on their own, problems are much harder. But when they draw on the knowledge teachers, instructors, and elders have imparted, they can rely on a valuable source of wisdom and inspiration.
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