When I taught first grade I was fortunate to have a classroom library filled with Pioneer Valley books. From the high-interest nonfiction texts to the lovable books about the cutest pups, Bella and Rosie, these leveled readers were always the first to fly off my library shelves.
Pioneer Valley has always offered more than books and while schools are closed across America, they are providing even more amazing resources for students and teachers. Check out these 4 reasons we are loving Pioneer Valley Books now more than ever.
Read-at-Home Books
When our state first announced that school would not resume within the walls of our classrooms, my mind quickly went to the books. I am fortunate to have a house FULL of high-interest books. Even with my house full of books, I was still worried about not having enough books at my daughter’s independent reading level.
I was so excited when I heard about Pioneer Valley’s Read-at-Home Sets. These books are the exact same books as the books my students loved reading in my classroom library, just printed on lighter weight paper. And BONUS–they are a quarter of the price. I love how they are available for anyone–parent or teacher–to purchase.
I ordered two leveled sets for my daughter. The books arrived in less than a week. We received 24 books for under $35. What is even better than the price is the fact that my daughter CANNOT put them down.
I am ordering more today and guess what? Each set is a flat rate of 16.50–no shipping! Need cheap books for your digital lessons or for your own children? Get yours here.
Digital-at-Home Sets
Do you want access to their amazing books for free? Try Pioneer Valley’s Digital-at-Home Sets. You can access 186 books from levels Pre-A through N. Each level contains at least 12 titles with a healthy balance of informational texts and stories.
For Teachers
If you are a teacher, you can set up book rooms for your students. Just create an account here, invite students to join, and start assigning leveled books to students. Your students can have FREE digital access to books they can read with joy and accuracy. If you are curious about how you might use these books with your students, check out this webinar to see how you can utilize these books in your virtual classroom.
For Parents
You don’t have to be a teacher to access these books! Parents can easily create digital book rooms for their children, too. I tried it out myself. It only took a minute to set up and now my children can rake in reading time with really great, high-interest books.
Pioneer Valley’s Teacher Support
After I created a digital library for my own children, I started to explore. What I discovered was each digital book is accompanied by three videos; a book introduction, a word study lesson, and a guided writing lesson. Students can access these videos to support their own learning before and after each read. Teachers can use these videos in lessons, or they can use them as mentor videos for creating their own lessons.
Pretty incredible, right?
Professional Development
Pioneer Valley Books has always offered professional development. Now that teachers are operating in these uncharted waters, Pioneer Valley has stepped up again for teachers. They are now offering webinars to support teachers in this digital world. You can sign up to watch the webinar live or access them at a later time on Vimeo. Don’t miss their next webinar, Meeting the Challenges: Teaching Reading Remotely with Digital Books, Featuring Michèle Dufresne and Karen Cangemi on April 30th, 2020. Head on over to Pioneer Valley and save yourself a seat!
