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This test consists of 5 short answer questions, 10 short essay questions, and 1 (of 3) essay topics.

Short Answer Questions

1. Whom did Mrs. Zajac ask to clean out Clarence's desk?

2. What did Irish immigrants bring to America with them as keepsakes of their home?

3. What was the person who arranged the trip to Puerto Rico over spring break?

4. Which student held Mrs. Zajac's hand and stayed near her during the field trip?

5. What was one thing Father Joyce noticed about the Hispanic parishioners during the Spanish mass?

Short Essay Questions

1. How did Kelly Schools fare on the standardized tees the sixth grade took? How did Principal Laudato respond to this news? How did Mrs. Zajac respond?

2. What was the Alpha class? Who decided whether a child was appropriate for the Alpha class?

3. When was the science fair at Kelly School? Why was this event important to the students and their families?

4. How did Mrs. Zajac differ outside of her class from inside her classroom?

5. What is the history of Puerto Ricans in the town of Holyoke? How were they treated in the second half of the twentieth century?

6. As the class approached spring break, how did Mrs. Zajac feel about her class? About herself? What were her parting words to Jimmy as the children leave for a week's break?

7. What were some of the changes January brought to Mrs. Zajac's class and her students?

8. What did Mrs. Zajac and her family do over spring break? Who organized the experience? Why did Mrs. Zajac decide to spend her spring break this way?

9. Who were the four students Mrs. Zajac thought would probably fail the sixth grade standardized tests the following year and why? How did she think her other students would perform on the test?

10. Who in Mrs. Zajac's class won a ribbon for their Science Fair project? How did the ribbon recipients respond to being awarded for their efforts? How did the other children respond to the award?

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Teaching in America today is a challenge, but the history of teaching in America has always been fraught with challenges. What are some of the challenges faced by teachers in the earlier part of the century that are no longer a problem today? What ones remain challenges to teachers today? Why do you think this is?

Essay Topic 2

Much of the story of Kelly School's fifth grade class involved Mrs. Zajac and her work with Clarence. Do you believe Mrs. Zajac did all she could do for Clarence and made the right call by having him removed from the class? Or, do you think she should have kept Clarence in the room and continued to try and help him? Support your answer.

Essay Topic 3

Miss Hunt was the student teacher for sixteen weeks in the beginning of the school year. What suggestions did Mrs. Zajac give Miss Hunt as she prepared to go out into the world and teach? Why was each suggestion an important one?

(see the answer keys)

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