Retro School Days

Name:

Date:

Instructions: How well do you remember school life from the 1950s through 1970s?

1.
What purple-inked duplication machine was commonly used by teachers to make handouts before photocopiers?
A
Mimeograph machine
B
Printing press
C
Carbon copier
D
Xerox machine
2.
What did students practice during 'duck and cover' drills in the 1950s and 1960s?
A
Fire evacuation
B
Tornado safety
C
Hiding under desks in case of nuclear attack
D
Earthquake preparation
3.
What glass bottle of milk was delivered to classrooms for students during the 1950s and 1960s?
A
A half-pint carton or bottle
B
A thermos
C
A quart jug
D
A full gallon
4.
What writing instrument were students required to learn to use in cursive writing class?
A
Pencil only
B
Fountain pen or cartridge pen
C
Felt-tip marker
D
Ballpoint pen
5.
What educational TV show featuring a gentle host in a cardigan was often shown in classrooms?
A
Captain Kangaroo
B
Sesame Street
C
The Electric Company
D
Mister Rogers' Neighborhood
6.
What was the standard punishment for misbehaving students in many 1950s and 1960s classrooms?
A
Loss of recess with a warning
B
Call to parents
C
Writing sentences on the chalkboard
D
Detention only
7.
What yellow vehicle became the standard way American children got to school starting in the 1940s?
A
Trolley
B
Yellow taxi
C
School bus
D
Station wagon
8.
What lunchbox material was most popular for school children in the 1950s and 1960s?
A
Woven basket
B
Plastic container
C
Metal with a thermos
D
Paper bag
9.
What was the SRA Reading Laboratory, a popular classroom fixture of the 1960s and 1970s?
A
A reading workbook series
B
A boxed set of color-coded reading cards
C
A special reading room
D
A filmstrip about reading
10.
What classroom technology involved a strip of film with accompanying audio played from a record?
A
Movie projector
B
Filmstrip projector
C
Overhead projector
D
Slide carousel
11.
What was the 'Weekly Reader,' distributed to students from the 1920s through the 2000s?
A
A comic book for schools
B
A TV guide for educational programs
C
A graded classroom newspaper
D
A reading workbook
12.
What was a 'geography bee' or 'spelling bee' winner traditionally awarded in many schools?
A
A cash prize
B
A trophy and advancement to regional competition
C
Extra recess time
D
A blue ribbon only
13.
What classroom supply, made by a company that shared its name with a crayon brand, was used to hold supplies in a yellow-green box?
A
Dixon Ticonderoga
B
Crayola
C
Faber-Castell
D
Binney & Smith
14.
What did the 'Palmer Method,' taught in schools from the early 1900s through the 1960s, teach students?
A
Public speaking
B
Arithmetic
C
Physical fitness
D
Handwriting and penmanship
15.
What was 'new math,' a controversial education reform introduced in the 1960s?
A
Teaching metric system exclusively
B
A curriculum emphasizing abstract concepts like set theory
C
Teaching math with calculators
D
A computer-based math program

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