Pioneer Valley Books

Collin is continuing to make great progress. He is consistently self-correcting errors, he seems to be learning new words fairly well, and he is also getting a bit faster in his reading.

This week I introduced him to a new book from the African Friends set. Little Monkey is Brave is a level 6/D book from this Readers’ Theatre set. Each book in this set includes a story and the same story rewritten as a play. I also gave Collin the little finger puppets that go with this set so he could perform the play with his family. He was very excited, and his parents told me the whole family enjoyed retelling the story using the puppets. Introducing your students and children to fun and exciting ways to enjoy their reading is almost always met with great success!

Here is a clip of Collin performing the play with me! Watch it and see what you think of Collin’s progress as a reader.

Michele Dufresne is author of many Pioneer Valley Books early readers (including the Bella and Rosie series), Word Solvers Heinemann), and an early literacy and literacy intervention consultant.

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Our newest iPad book available on the Who Can Read? ipad app is The Emperor's New Clothes. Students will enjoy this story about a vain emperor who is tricked by two swindlers into parading around town in no clothing. Playful illustrations will keep students engaged in this amusing story. The Emperor's New Clothes was retold by Michele Dufresne and illustrated by Michael Chesworth. This level M book is ideal for your upper level second-grade reader. See our level chart for more information about leveling. The Emperor's New Clothes is available for in-app purchase for $0.99.

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Beach season is almost here and our latest letter is from a fan who likes the book A Trip to the Beach! We love that our fans share with us their questions and stories.

Do you have a message or question for one of our characters (or authors)? You can send mail to them directly. Go to Bella and Rosie World for our mailing address. And, yes, our characters (and authors) will write back to you!

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Personalize and download a free story for your students!

Here at Pioneer Valley Books we are proud to continue providing you with excellent resources to support all students in their efforts to grow as readers.

Michele Dufresne has written another BookBuilder story for you to use with your students! This month's story, The Surfing Lesson, features bright illustrations and a fun summer vacation theme.

If you're new to BookBuilders, this is how they work: insert your child's or student's name(s) and print out the story. The printed pages are collated specifically so that they can be easily cut and stapled to create a mini book.

Just add your students' names and print out this level 14/H story to share with your students. For your planning purposes, it will be helpful for you to know that this story calls for the name of one girl and two boys.

Follow this link to download your free BookBuilder story now!

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To prepare teachers for the summer, we are making the calendars available for May - August. Click here to download your FREE summer Bella & Rosie calendars.

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This month, enjoy special savings on on any book or book set that has a downloadable lesson plan!

You'll be getting a great price on the books and a free lesson plan!

All books and book sets that have a downloadable lesson plan are 35% off this month.

This includes Gilbert the Pig Set 1 and Gilbert the Pig Set 2, the Fawn Chapter Books, Spaceboy Set 1, Galaxy Girl Set 1, Georgie Giraffe Set 1, and Little Dinosaur Set 1.

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I have written guided reading lessons plans to accompany a number of the books published by Pioneer Valley Books. You can download these for free on the website. Although I have written the plans and am happy that teachers can access them, I have to go on record and share that, in general, I have mixed feelings about teachers using prepared lesson plans.

During the years that I was working as a Reading Recovery ® Teacher Leader, I worked with the teachers to help them learn to prepare their students for a reading of a new book. It is important to know your students' strengths and to keep in mind what will be the most powerful teaching points to focus each lesson on. Doing this ensures that you will be working to propel a student forward. To carefully plan for the reading of a new book means to analyze running records and observe individual reading behaviors as a child reads and writes stories. This helps teachers to plan what to focus the teaching on as you introduce a new book. This is one thing that a pre-prepared lesson plan simply cannot do.

The lesson plans that I have written for Pioneer Valley Books are not intended as a script to be followed; they are meant to help you think about the challenges and the support each book might pose. These pre-prepared lesson plans should be used simply as a tool. If it is the first time you are preparing to use a particular book, the lesson plan should help you to anticipate the book's challenges and the aspects of reading that it helps to support. Most importantly, always keep in mind the specific student(s) you are using a book with.

I hope you will find the lesson plans helpful!

Michele Dufresne is author of many Pioneer Valley Books early readers (including the Bella and Rosie series), Word Solvers (Heinemann), and an early literacy and literacy intervention consultant.

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Tuesday only!

25% OFF ON OUR WEBSITE! Free Bella & Rosie Plush for orders over $500

Tuesday, May 8th is Rosie's 12th birthday and she wants to celebrate by offering you a special deal! (Actually, she wanted to celebrate with cake, but we wouldn't let her!)

FOR ONE DAY ONLY, you can purchase anything on our website for 25% off! This includes collections, character sets, teaching resources and even adorable plush companions!

The Tiny Treasures books are not included in this sale, but they're already an awesome deal!

SPECIAL BONUS REWARD! In addition to this amazing bargain, if your order totals over $500 (after the discount), we will add a FREE big Bella and Rosie plush set! You don't need to do anything to get your FREE plush pair; if your order qualifies, we'll add it for you!

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We're happy to provide you with your free May calendar featuring Bella & Rosie. Click here to visit Bella and Rosie World and download your free calendar.

We will be sending you an email in a couple weeks announcing all three of the summer months' calendars. Send your students off for the summer with enough Bella & Rosie goodness for June, July and August!

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Today Only - 50% off Jack and Daisy Books!

Wednesday, April 25th, is Jack's 4th birthday and he wants to celebrate by offering you a special deal! (Bella & Rosie wanted to celebrate with cake, but we wouldn't let them!)

FOR ONE DAY ONLY, you can purchase any Jack & Daisy book or book set for 50% off!

The Jack & Daisy Tiny Treasures are excluded from this special but they're awesome bargains already!

To qualify for 50% off your Jack & Daisy books, the order must be placed ONLINE before 12 midnight, EST Wednesday night. When Jack's birthday is over, so is this deal.

This special deal is valid for ONLINE orders only and is not valid with any other deals.

Use this code for your order: Jack2012