Parents would you be okay if your child failed this test?

I am not a great fan of memorizing anything but math facts. That being said, memory skills are important and training your brain to remember things is a good thing to practice. Teachers usually grade fairly leniently on this type of thing by not counting for a missed word or stumbling as long as they know the poem. I mean it's not like they expect a professional theater performance. I firmly believe any child who puts int he time can memorize a poem to achieve at least a B so yes I would be a bit upset if they didn't get at least that.