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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. How long did Ashton-Warner give the students each day to write their stories?

2. What did the students do with their cards after they were handed out?

3. What teacher did Ashton-Warner describe as being on the "high mountain" at the beginning of "Workbook"?

4. Where did the smaller children sometimes go during the shared reading period?

5. By what title was Tolstoy known to his students?

Short Essay Questions

1. Why did Ashton-Warner throw out words that students did not recognize the second time?

2. What did Ashton-Warner mean by "tone" in the classroom?

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

4. In "Workbook," what did Ashton-Warner mean when she said that one cannot plot life?

5. Why was it important for the teacher to be a good conversationalist in the classroom?

6. What did Plato believe about dance?

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

8. Into what two main categories did Ashton-Warner place many of her students' first words?

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

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

Essay Topics

Write an essay for ONE of the following topics:

Essay Topic 1

Although Ashton-Warner was willing to sometimes rein in her classroom, overall she accepted the fact that there would be noisy chaos among the children. How does a teacher harness this sort of energy when asking the students to perform specific tasks? How does he ensure that it does not become disruptive? Based on Ashton-Warner's experiences, is this noise ever destructive? Would it be possible to allow this level of noise in most modern-day classrooms or would the differences among the children preclude allowing it?

Essay Topic 2

Ashton-Warner's book, "Teacher," was extremely influential and continues to be taught in schools of education today. Research if and how her approach to organic teaching has influenced the classrooms of today. How is organic teaching taught? Is it ever fully implemented or was it ultimately unique to a handle of schools and classrooms? Does today's push for school accountability and standardized testing make it more difficult to incorporate organic learning as practiced by Ashton-Warner? Or does organic teaching provide a promising way out of today's difficulties in the educational system?

Essay Topic 3

Ashton-Warner discussed the basic rule of organic teaching as a "creative vent." Explore what she meant by that expression. How does providing children with an opportunity to vent, whether in writing, dance or artwork, help that child grow? If the child is asked to conform to certain educational standards and suppress his own impulses, how does that affect his overall schoolwork? Is some degree of suppression necessary for the sake of classroom unity and atmosphere or should all students be given free rein to express themselves even if they do not follow the curriculum? How does the imposition of adult-determined standards stunt a child's growth, as Ashton-Warner suggested?

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