The Landry News: Chapters 8–14

by Andrew Clements
Extra! Extra! Read all about it! The publication of a student newspaper has unexpected consequences in this novel by award-winning author Andrew Clements.

Here are links to our lists for the novel: Chapters 1–7, Chapters 8–14, Chapters 15–20

Here are links to our lists for other works by Andrew Clements: Frindle, Things Not Seen
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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. sprawl
    sit or lie with one's limbs spread out
    Sprawled on the floor, standing around in small groups, or sitting on desktops, they were leafing through old newspapers, looking for the editorial pages.
  2. obituary
    a notice of someone's death
    Phil was reading the obituaries, and every few minutes he discovered a person who had the same last name as a kid in the class.
  3. flatter
    praise somewhat dishonestly
    Cara was flattered, but her smile turned to a frown.
  4. encyclopedia
    a reference work containing articles on various topics
    Ellen Rogers was using the encyclopedia on one of them, and David Fox sat at the other, headphones clamped on his head, playing some sort of geography game.
  5. stammer
    speak haltingly
    “I... I don’t really know how to use a computer,” stammered Cara, blushing.
  6. journalism
    the profession of reporting or editing news stories
    This journalism project you are doing with your afternoon group?— it sounds sooo interesting—but I just wanted to give you a heads-up about the possible extra expenses.
  7. eventually
    after an unspecified period of time or a long delay
    Now, the little Landry girl said that eventually they will want to be printing on both sides of the paper, and that can be pretty hard on the toner cartridges and the imaging rollers—so that’s another possible expense.
  8. allot
    give out
    Each teacher and each team is allotted so much credit for each semester, and then, if you haven’t used up your credits before...
  9. requisition
    an official form on which a request is made
    I have the requisition forms all ready for you to sign, and then your students can come in anytime and have what they need.
  10. blurt
    utter impulsively
    Before she could take another breath, Mr. Larson blurted out, “Did they say when they wanted to have something ready to print?”
  11. framework
    a structure supporting or containing something
    The first time he and Cara went to the resource center on Monday afternoon, it took him only twenty minutes to set up the basic framework of the newspaper.
  12. overwhelm
    overcome, as with emotions or perceptual stimuli
    Cara was feeling a little overwhelmed by all the choices.
  13. deadline
    the point in time at which something must be completed
    It had not been easy, but they had made the Friday deadline.
  14. swivel
    turn on a pivot
    Mr. Larson had started slowly swiveling his chair around toward the chalkboard when he was about halfway through the editorial.
  15. distribute
    give to several people
    All seventy-five copies had been distributed in less than six minutes.
  16. criticism
    disapproval expressed by pointing out faults or shortcomings
    There was no criticism of the school, the school administration, or school policies.
  17. scowl
    a facial expression of dislike or displeasure
    A scowl formed on his broad, fleshy face, and his nostrils flared and quivered.
  18. stationery
    paper cut to an appropriate size for writing letters
    Mrs. Cormier scrawled a hasty note onto a sheet of Dr. Barnes’s stationery, stuffed it into Mr. Larson’s mail slot, and was out the door in thirty seconds.
  19. neutral
    not supporting or favoring either side in a dispute
    Yes, the effect might be positive. But the treatment—the words themselves and the images they communicate—they would be negative. Now, everyone, look over the editorials you clipped. Let’s get some lists going up here, positive, neutral, and negative.
  20. scandalous
    giving offense to moral sensibilities
    The negative column filled up fastest with words like stupid, disgraceful, foolish, laughable, wasteful, outraged, idiotic, scandalous, uninformed, half-baked, shamefully.
  21. commendable
    worthy of high praise
    Positive words and phrases included generously, public-spirited, wise, beneficial, commendable, carefully researched, useful, honorable, good.
  22. presumably
    by reasonable assumption
    In fact, the kids only found five: apparently, clearly, not certain, understandably, presumably.
  23. rousing
    capable of stirring enthusiasm or excitement
    Then Mr. Larson led a rousing class discussion, more like a shouting match, about which kind of editorial treatment was best.
  24. gossip
    a report about the behavior of other people
    In just a few minutes, there was a long list of differences—things like advertisements, a purchase price, color pictures, comics, gossip columns, advice columns, world news.
  25. inclusive
    encompassing much or everything
    Then she smiled—a warm, inclusive smile that made her whole face shine.
  26. paralyze
    make powerless and unable to function
    By this time the noise in room 145 had reached a level that would have stunned, or possibly paralyzed, any other teacher at Denton Elementary School.
  27. heave
    utter a sound, as with obvious effort
    But Mr. Larson heaved a satisfied sigh, poured himself a cup of hot coffee from his big red thermos, smiled, leaned back in his chair, and opened up his other newspaper to the sports section.
  28. diploma
    a document certifying the completion of a course of study
    On the paneled wall behind his chair, framed diplomas and certificates competed for space with photographs of Dr. Barnes shaking hands with important people, some of whom Mr. Larson could actually recognize.
  29. ambition
    a strong drive for success
    Ambition oozed from every photograph.
  30. unanimous
    in complete agreement
    In 1988 the States Supreme Court ruled that school principals have the legal right to say what does or does not get printed in school newspapers. It was not a unanimous decision, but five justices agreed that a school principal has this authority.
  31. violation
    an act that disregards an agreement or a right
    Some people think the Court’s decision is a violation of the Constitution’s guarantee of free speech.
  32. memorandum
    a written proposal or reminder
    This is a memorandum to the personnel file of Mr. Karl Larson.
  33. objectionable
    causing offense or disapproval
    It appears to be a school newspaper, and I have asked Mr. Larson to show each copy to me before publication so that any objectionable material can be removed before it is distributed.
  34. amendment
    a statement that is added to a proposal or document
    At the top it said: The Bill of Rights The Ten Original Amendments to the Constitution of the United States of America.
  35. suspicion
    an impression that something might be the case
    A little suspicion formed in the back of her mind that, sooner or later, she’d find out.
Created on Fri May 08 11:58:04 EDT 2015 (updated Wed Aug 15 16:16:25 EDT 2018)

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