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This test consists of 15 multiple choice questions and 5 short answer questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. How does the teachers union representative react to Codell's request to become a representative?
(a) The representative tells Codell that she is too young to become a representative.
(b) The representative thinks that a rookie teacher is making an inappropriate power grab.
(c) The representative agrees to ask the local union leader about the switch, but nothing transpires.
(d) The representative is happy to pass along such a burdensome responsibility.

2. Which best describes an aspect of Codell's philosophy of reading out loud to the class?
(a) The teacher should often stop to have discussions about the text.
(b) The teacher should read words very slowly and loudly.
(c) Each child should have a book, so they can follow along with the reading.
(d) Any difficult words should be immediately looked up in the dictionary.

3. Why does Codell compare teaching to an apple in her poem "How to Teach Learning"?
(a) If a teacher makes learning like a forbidden fruit, students will want it even more, like Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden.
(b) The mind can rot, just like an apple.
(c) One bad apple (student) can spoil the bunch.
(d) Learning can take many forms, like an apple can become juice or applesauce.

4. According to Codell, what is "education's best-kept secret"?
(a) Teachers being personally invested in their teaching methods make them accountable.
(b) Principals do absolutely nothing to help teachers.
(c) A sticker award system will make fifth-graders more motivated to learn than anything else.
(d) If parents were more involved in teaching, it would actually make things worse.

5. How does the class do on the yearly standardized tests the district administers?
(a) The class performs poorly, and Codell is disappointed and disillusioned.
(b) The class scores the best in the state.
(c) The class scores third-best out of all the fifth-grade classes in the school.
(d) The class scores best out of all the fifth-grade classes in the school.

6. Esme's current principal (as of the Epilogue) has what sort of relationship with Esme?
(a) Positive and supportive.
(b) Cool and indifferent.
(c) Esme married her current principal.
(d) Nasty and strained.

7. Why does Codell compare teaching to a bottle cap in her poem "How to Teach Learning"?
(a) Learning is a series of ups and downs, like the ridges on the side of a bottle cap.
(b) Learning is like uncapping the mind to a world of knowledge.
(c) Learning is incredibly difficult, just like trying to twist a bottle cap off.
(d) Like a soda bottle cap that might announce "You are a winner!" learning should be special and surprising.

8. Which student does Codell believe has the potential to become a children's book illustrator?
(a) B. B.
(b) Ashworth.
(c) Serena.
(d) Shira.

9. Which child is especially shy about being a storyteller?
(a) Maurissa.
(b) Serena.
(c) B. B.
(d) Ozzie.

10. Why is Ozzie becoming ill at school?
(a) Ozzie's nausea is purely psychosomatic.
(b) Fearful of going hungry, Ozzie eats several hamburgers at a time during lunch.
(c) Ozzie has been diagnosed with Irritable Bowel Syndrome.
(d) Ozzie is eating Elmer's glue.

11. Why is Codell afraid of B. B. returning from suspension?
(a) She is afraid B. B. will return with a gun and shoot her.
(b) She is afraid B. B. will beat up Vanessa in an act of revenge.
(c) She is afraid B. B. will decide to quit school altogether.
(d) She is afraid Mr. Turner will doubt that the suspension was necessary at all.

12. How does Codell prepare her students for the Storytelling Festival?
(a) She has them dress as the main character of their story.
(b) She has them practice telling their stories in younger-aged classes.
(c) She makes them memorize their stories forwards as well as backwards.
(d) She gives them voice lessons.

13. Why doesn't Codell alert administration when one of her students brings a baby brother to school?
(a) She is afraid Mr. Turner might turn the baby over to Child Protective Services.
(b) She is afraid of the potential consequences for the student in question.
(c) She figures having a baby in the class will be a valuable teaching moment.
(d) She loves babies, and is happy to tend to the child for the day.

14. In Codell's reading group method, what role does the "literary luminary" play?
(a) Defining difficult words in the text.
(b) Guessing what comes next in the plot of the book.
(c) Reading passages out loud.
(d) Making questions up about the book.

15. What is the "last straw" that causes Codell to force Mr. Turner to suspend B. B.?
(a) B. B. sneaks into the girls' bathroom.
(b) B. B. refuses to do his homework.
(c) B. B. steals a book.
(d) B. B. calls her a bad name.

Short Answer Questions

1. What teaching guidelines are given to the school by the Michael Jordan Foundation?

2. Why is Latoya consistently late to school in the second week of April?

3. According to Esme, how do her new students in her new school (as of the Epilogue) behave?

4. Why does B. B. sleep over at Codell's apartment one night?

5. According to Jim Trelease, what kind of portrayal is Educating Esme, with respect to American education?

(see the answer keys)

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