1-page, Section-by-Section Vocabulary Printables

Names Dad's days-long withdrawal ordeal, so the reader needs it to follow the scene; a strong, useful word in a clear, vivid excerpt, and rare enough that most target-grade students gain from it.

A strong Tier 2 word in a wry, well-made moment—the town's pride in its burned-out 'hell' sign shows the contrary, against-the-grain sense in action. High value for both comprehension and vocabulary growth.

A strong Tier 2 word central to the family's love of empty, isolated land; paired with 'isolated,' the meaning is well supported. Rich in connotation and worth teaching to a target-grade student.

Rich, evocative word a target-grade student likely doesn't know; the parallel list of dejected zoo animals makes the lonely, neglected sense vivid even though the passage itself is incidental.

High-value academic word; the contrast of outward appearance against inner spirit makes the 'shallow, surface-only' sense clear and memorable, and it is useful well beyond this book.

Solid Tier 2 word; the gentle contradiction—a 'devout' Catholic who treats the Commandments as mere suggestions—gives the meaning real texture and helps it stick.

Strong academic word; 'even kind of shy' glosses the cautious, unsure quality right in the line. Worth precision because students often use it loosely.

Valuable Tier 2 word, and the surrounding sentences show exactly what dodging behavior looks like. The context is generous, but the word itself is well worth teaching.

A pervasive academic word tied here to Dad's resourcefulness, a recurring trait worth naming. Clear, useful, and likely to reappear across a student's reading.

Rich, uncommon verb most target-grade students won't know; the payoff—'until he allowed us to enroll'—shows the sustained coaxing working. A strong vocabulary-growth pick despite the minor moment.

wheedle: Rich, difficult verb for manipulative coaxing, but so close to the selected 'cajole' that quizzing both would be redundant.

shiftless: High-difficulty character word central to how Grandma judges Dad; edged out because it recurs little in academic reading.

invariably: Very common in academic writing, but flatter in meaning and less central to this section than the selected words.

frantic: Strong excerpt and a useful Tier 2 word, but most target-grade students already know it well.

nomads: Names the family's way of life and is a handy Tier 2 word, but familiar enough that there is little to teach.

parched: Vivid, recurring word with a strong excerpt; missing it costs the reader little, so it lost to higher-comprehension picks.

pigeonholed: Useful figurative idiom, but the context nearly hands over the 'labeled and boxed in' sense, lowering its quiz value.

excruciating: Good Tier 2 word used figuratively for social misery, but well-known enough that most students already grasp it.

A high-value academic adverb students meet across their reading and mostly don't yet command. Becker's pointed, for-show inspection of the display cases models the showy, meant-to-be-noticed sense cleanly; one of the section's strongest teaching words.

A vivid Tier 2 word for a social outcast, central to the bullying scenes and likely to recur in academic reading. 'Treated her like a total pariah,' with the cruel taunts that follow, makes the meaning unmistakable while the passage carries real weight.

A rich Tier 2 word for scorn that most students won't yet command precisely. 'No true frontiersman would ever stoop to use it' dramatizes the looking-down-on sense, and the word rewards teaching its connotations of contempt and superiority.

A strong academic word whose sense of respectful yielding differs meaningfully from the everyday 'defer,' so it teaches a real distinction. Being treated like the school's top athlete makes the courteous, yielding regard concrete and memorable.

A classic Tier 2 vocabulary word students see often and mostly don't yet know. Pairing with 'spectacular' and 'tactical victory' supports the bold, daring sense, and the word carries useful shades from admirable nerve to reckless cheek.

A strong Tier 2 adverb worth real teaching; the porch jutting out on tall, spindly pillars gives an unforgettable picture of the dangerously-unsteady sense, and the word recurs widely in academic prose.

A valuable Tier 2 word in a striking simile, the menacing crows 'staring in ominous silence.' Many students half-know it, but the precise sense of threat and foreboding, and its literary use here, repay teaching.

A rich character word most students won't know, and one Erma embodies completely. The next line, hitting the children on the head with a serving spoon, dramatizes the bad-tempered, quarrelsome meaning. Less academic than some, but high teaching value here.

A solid Tier 2 word students meet in literature and history. Mom's rosary and prayers show the devout, religious sense in action, and the slightly ironic 'pious side' opens a useful conversation about showy versus sincere devotion.

A valuable Tier 2 word most students won't yet know; the contrast between the narrator's angry 'tirade' and Mom's silence frames the meaning of a long, heated outburst. Rich enough in connotation to be worth real teaching.

irreparable: Strong academic word that just missed; 'irreparable psychological damage' supports the cannot-be-undone sense.

distraught: Strong, emotional passage, but most students already know the word, so it offered less to teach than the chosen ten.

monochromatic: Precise academic word, but the text's coal-dust gloss hands students the meaning, lowering its urgency as a quiz word.

enraptured: Vivid word with a nice once-fidgety-now-spellbound contrast; edged out by stronger Tier 2 picks.

surrogate: Solid Tier 2 word; 'like a surrogate daughter' shows the stand-in sense, but it ranked just below the selected ten.

plundered: Forceful verb casting Dad's theft as a raid, but less likely to recur in academic reading than the chosen words.

gaunt: Vivid, but more literary than academic in register, and the haggard look it names is fairly accessible.

inconspicuous: Useful Tier 2 word, but plainer in connotation than the selected ten, so it just missed the line.

forbidding: Worth a look for its grim sense, distinct from 'forbid,' but its comprehension weight here was modest.

shrouded: Evocative and well-crafted, but literary rather than broadly academic, so it ranked just below the line.

Rich, high-value word with strong connotation a target-grade student is unlikely to fully own. Mom humming and sketching at her daughter's arraignment is the section's signature image of calm unconcern amid crisis -- an unforgettable teaching moment and the strongest pick.

Uncommon, difficult word anchored to the section's emotional climax -- the revelation that Mom held land worth a million dollars while the family went hungry. The excerpt frames 'caprice' as a damaging whim, making an abstract sense vivid and central to the book's meaning.

Valuable academic word used figuratively; Mom's cheerful 'facade' cracking to reveal real distress teaches the sense of a put-on outward front. Strong connotation and a memorable moment make it a clear keeper over plainer options.

An idiom a target-grade student who reads it literally will misunderstand, so worth teaching directly. Dad's wounded reaction to the gift of clothes -- the world exposing his pretense -- makes the figurative sense land. A strong, transferable phrase.

Rich Tier-2 word with real psychological nuance; the narrator's restless need to keep moving shows 'compulsion' as a drive she can't easily control. Valuable for vocabulary growth and well supported by its excerpt.

Strong academic word that recurs across science and writing; the memoir's closing image of candle flames 'dancing along the border between turbulence and order' is its most resonant excerpt. Rich and pivotal -- earns a quiz slot rather than a mere gloss.

Strong, difficult Tier-2 word; Brian's pointed jab and Lori's quick 'no recriminations' let a target-grade student grasp it as the trading of blame back and forth. Solid academic utility and a clear context.

Rare, rich word rooted in journalism history (the muckrakers, the Progressive Era the text names) and central to Jeannette's defining career here. High difficulty and strong connotation make it a memorable vocabulary-growth pick despite its narrower range.

Useful Tier-2 word at the heart of the section's central irony -- Mom is 'not destitute,' holding jewelry, property, and land while sleeping on the street. The list of her assets lets a target-grade student infer the sense of utterly without resources.

Precise legal word a target-grade student is unlikely to know, anchoring the family's most shattering scene -- Maureen's arraignment. The courtroom details (bail, the judge, the jumpsuit) supply the meaning, and the civics utility makes it worth testing.

sporadically: Strong academic adverb (high Tier-2, genuinely difficult), but plainer in nuance and in a minor moment; edged out by richer, more central words.

invincible: Strong excerpt of Dad shrugging off every injury, but a word most target-grade students already know well, limiting what there is to teach.

escapades: Lively, well-connoted word with a vivid list of Dad's exploits, but less essential to comprehension and narrower in academic use.

gaunt: Vivid and difficult, but the excerpt's 'sunken cheeks' hands the meaning to the reader, weakening it as a quiz-word.

dilapidated: Solid Tier-2 word for a run-down place, but straightforward in nuance and in an incidental passage; just below the line.

thunderstruck: Expressive and tied to a strong moment of shock, but unlikely to recur much in academic reading; lower Tier-2 value.

monotonous: Useful Tier-2 word, but one most target-grade students already grasp, so there is less to teach.

refracting: Solid science-register word, but the text explains it and it is not central to comprehension here.