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

Multiple Choice Questions

1. What ultimate fear does Codell express about Melanie?
(a) Melanie will likely have to repeat the fifth grade.
(b) Melanie may grow up to become a felon.
(c) Melanie will fail as a storyteller, and ruin the Storyteller Festival.
(d) Melanie may be expelled from the district after a hearing.

2. According to Codell, how must a teacher behave with a student to get him/her to learn?
(a) Aloof and disinterested.
(b) Kind and nurturing.
(c) Coy and elusive.
(d) Tough and strict.

3. Which student does Codell want as her little sister?
(a) Vanessa.
(b) Asha.
(c) Samantha.
(d) Esther.

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

5. What is Codell's response when Rowisha tells her about B. B.'s horrible home life?
(a) Codell and Rowisha cry together, and later they become friends.
(b) Codell believes that even bad home circumstances are no excuse for bad behavior at school.
(c) Codell mocks Rowisha, making matters worse.
(d) Codell is so moved by the tragic story that she gives Rowisha two hundred dollars.

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

7. What kind of people too often dominate public education, according to Trelease?
(a) People like Esme Codell.
(b) Ill-tempered people who are too quick to anger.
(c) People like Ms. Federman.
(d) Haughty, prideful, disconnected people.

8. What song does Codell hear in her mind when she has recess duty?
(a) "Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head" by B. J. Thomas.
(b) "Sing a Simple Song" by Sly and the Family Stone.
(c) "Cinderella's Departure for the Ball" by Prokofiev.
(d) "Stoney End" by Laura Nyro.

9. What does Codell tell B. B., which she later apologizes for?
(a) She says he is acting like a jerk.
(b) She says she wishes B. B. was not in her class.
(c) She says B. B. deserved all the beatings his mother gave him.
(d) She tells B. B. he's very likely to end up in a street gang.

10. What important test does Codell's class take on May 13th?
(a) The California Assessment of Learning.
(b) The Illinois Standardized Test of Academic Proficiency.
(c) The Federal Standardized Exam.
(d) The Iowa Standardized Test of Basic Skills.

11. Why does B. B. sleep over at Codell's apartment one night?
(a) B. B.'s mother threw him out, and he is homeless for one night before becoming a ward of the state.
(b) Codell is rewarding B. B. for winning a game show contest in class.
(c) B. B.'s mother fears violence from her abusive boyfriend.
(d) B. B. celebrates his birthday with a half dozen other kids who also stay the night.

12. What misbehavior does Melanie have a propensity to commit?
(a) Stealing.
(b) Exposing herself to others.
(c) Arson.
(d) Beating up kids.

13. How many stages does Codell create as part of her Storyteller Festival?
(a) Two.
(b) One.
(c) Four.
(d) Zero.

14. Which is NOT one of the reasons, according to Jim Trelease, that Educating Esme is "terribly relevant"?
(a) It provides a realistic snapshot of American education.
(b) Although Codell's students didn't learn the "right" things, they had a ton of fun along the way.
(c) Codell is young, and represents the future.
(d) Codell was a success, and her students learned.

15. How does Codell teach Melanie to control her destructive urges?
(a) Codell calls a parent-teacher conference to explain the issue to Melanie's mother.
(b) Codell tells her that when she has a "funny feeling" in her stomach telling her to commit a crime, she should find Codell instead.
(c) Codell refuses to let Melanie check out any books from the classroom library unless Melanie stops.
(d) Codell tells Melanie to think about sitting on the beach in Hawaii, rather than committing the crime.

Short Answer Questions

1. Why do Ozzie's grades plummet?

2. What gift does Akila give to Codell?

3. Which child is especially shy about being a storyteller?

4. What special guest(s) arrive(s) for the Storyteller Festival?

5. What is the former occupation of Esme's current principal (as of the Epilogue)?

(see the answer keys)

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