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This test consists of 5 multiple choice questions, 5 short answer questions, and 10 short essay questions.

Multiple Choice Questions

1. Where did the smaller children sometimes go during the shared reading period?
(a) Outside for games.
(b) To another room for history.
(c) To another room for science.
(d) To the math room.

2. To what ancient writing system did Ashton-Warner refer at the beginning of the book?
(a) Hangul.
(b) Phoenecian alphabet.
(c) Cuneiform.
(d) Hieroglyphics.

3. How did Ashton-Warner describe the worst assistant she ever had in the classroom?
(a) The girl insisted on a quiet classroom.
(b) The girl told the students what to write.
(c) The girl spoke incessantly about herself.
(d) The girl insisted on reprimanding the students.

4. What composer was NOT mentioned among the list Ashton-Warner used in her classroom?
(a) Chopin.
(b) Mozart.
(c) Grieg.
(d) Beethoven.

5. How did Ashton-Warner "grade" the stories?
(a) She made suggestions for changes in the stories.
(b) She never put any marks on the students' writings.
(c) She corrected the spelling and grammar.
(d) She corrected the spelling only.

Short Answer Questions

1. What color crayon did Ashton-Warner use for the key vocabulary?

2. Who referred to dance as the "one complete expression" of a human's many faculties?

3. How long did many of the students' stories become by the time they were six?

4. What was the ideal number of students to whom a teacher could give individual attention?

5. What was the most powerful word under the "sex" category?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Ashton-Warner believe that standardized reading texts were damaging to children?

2. What is wrong with the cadence in many published first readers?

3. What was the role of handwriting in the Maori students' stories?

4. What did Plato believe about dance?

5. What did Ashton-Warner mean when she referred to a workbook as a "middleman"?

6. Why was teaching the class so back-breaking, according to Ashton-Warner?

7. What did Ashton-Warner mean when she wrote that "we don't waste enough in school?"

8. Why did Ashton-Warner find the European and American early readers two-dimensional?

9. What was Ashton-Warner's reaction to the sometimes violent imagery used in the children's stories?

10. How can a teacher tell when a book is valuable to her students, according to Ashton-Warner?

(see the answer keys)

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