The Teacher's Funeral: Chapters 1–4

by Richard Peck
Teenager Russell Culver's dreams of no more school and leaving his tiny farming town seem to be within reach when the schoolhouse teacher dies right before the school year begins! To his surprise, however, his older sister, Tansy, becomes the new teacher…and gradually life begins to change.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–4, Chapters 5–7, Chapters 8–9, Chapters 10–13, Chapters 14–17
15 words 86 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. southpaw
    a person who is left-handed
    She was a southpaw ... and she had arthritis in that elbow, so while she could still whup, it didn’t make much of an impression.
  2. nigh
    not far distant in time or space or degree or circumstances
    There was always talk about shutting down Hominy Ridge School anyhow. Now that me and Lloyd saw its end might be nigh, hope broke over us.
  3. nary
    colloquial for 'not a' or 'not one' or 'never a'
    This is how I pictured Indianapolis, this crush of humankind with nary a familiar face.
  4. liable
    likely to be or do something
    “They’ll turn out for Miss Myrt.”
    “They better,” Lloyd said darkly. “She’s liable to set up in her coffin and take roll.”
  5. resigned
    accepting that something unpleasant cannot be changed
    We left Stentor at home to graze and hitched Siren to the spring wagon. She wasn’t as crazy as we were for another trip this soon, so we let her see us throw handfuls of alfalfa and oats and horse weeds into the wagon bed, and she was resigned.
  6. caper
    jump about playfully
    There was no getting away without J.W., of course.
    He capered out from under the porch where he lived in hot weather, and ran circles around us, dropping down to slide his hind end in the weeds. He was Dad’s dog.
  7. vicinity
    a surrounding or nearby region
    J.W. went to work clearing the vicinity of rabbits while me and Lloyd began to string our trotlines.
  8. speculate
    talk over conjecturally, or review in an idle or casual way
    Me and Lloyd speculated about using pickled peaches for bait.
  9. cadaver
    the dead body of a human being
    “They got to have cadavers to cut up for their medical studies,” I explained.
  10. writhing
    moving in a twisting or snake-like or wormlike fashion
    Breaking the surface of the water was a writhing snake.
  11. linger
    take one's time; proceed slowly
    Where the snake went you couldn’t see, and Charlie didn’t linger to find out.
  12. katydid
    large green long-horned grasshopper of North America
    You could hear any distance now, even above the whine of the katydids.
  13. kick the bucket
    die
    “Charlie, you lying – ”
    “No, Russell, believe me or believe me not. Miss Myrt kicked the bucket right about supper time.”
  14. nicker
    make a soft sound characteristic of a horse
    She slept on her feet, and she’d dozed through everything so far. Now she nickered and pulled back on her rope.
  15. divvy
    separate into parts or portions
    We divvied up the snake with the ax for the hens to feed on and buried the head.
Created on Wed Jan 14 18:21:29 EST 2026 (updated Tue Mar 03 11:48:26 EST 2026)

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