by Mary E. Cronin | Dec 16, 2022 | Cape Cod, Poetry
Playing with poetry in the classroom– that’s one of the best parts of my job as a Literacy Coach in an elementary school. Recently, I introduced the poem “Circle of Sun” by Rebecca Kai Dotlich in the first-grade classroom I work in each morning. It’s the...
by Mary E. Cronin | Oct 15, 2022 | Cape Cod, Community connections, SCBWI, Teaching, We Need Diverse Books
When author Ana Crespo made an author visit via Zoom to the school where I work as a Literacy Coach on Cape Cod, the joy in classrooms was palpable. Most children in our K-3 school had never met an author before, and they were excited to meet Ana. Crespo, a native of...
by Mary E. Cronin | Oct 7, 2022 | Cape Cod, Community connections, Poetry
WHAT IS A FRIEND? I am delighted to be a part of a new poetry book for middle graders that answers this question. It’s a collection of poems about all aspects of friendship– getting along, competing, trying out new ventures together. My poem, “Team,” is about a...
by Mary E. Cronin | Jul 12, 2021 | Cape Cod, Poetry
When you get to combine teaching with a topic you’re passionate about– that’s the sweet spot! I just finished teaching one of my favorite courses at the community college, “Poetry in the Early Childhood Classroom.” In this class, we dove deep into poetry: how to...
by Mary E. Cronin | Oct 8, 2020 | Cape Cod, Community connections, LGBTQ+, We Need Diverse Books
It was a delight to be part of a (remote) round-table discussion this week on WCAI-FM (the Cape and Islands NPR station) about children’s literature and diversity. On “The Point” program hosted by Mindy Todd, I was joined by an educator from the Mashpee...
by Mary E. Cronin | Sep 3, 2020 | Cape Cod, We Need Diverse Books
I don’t think it’s an accident that I received a strange note in the mail recently. It was postmarked on the day after my article appeared in the Cape Cod Times. The headline in the print edition was “Black Lives Matter: does your child’s bookshelf reflect the...