Woodsong: Chapters 5–6

by Gary Paulsen
The author invites the young reader into the grueling experience of training for and running the Alaskan Iditarod dogsled race. It is a study in preparation, training, perseverance, learning from hardship and failure, teamwork, commitment, humility, and how to finish.

Here are links to our lists for the book: Chapters 1–2, Chapters 3–4, Chapters 5–6, Chapters 7–Day 1, Chapters Day 2–Days 16 and 17
15 words 110 learners

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Full list of words from this list:

words only definitions & notes
  1. self-sufficient
    able to provide for your own needs without help from others
    Banties—my wife says—are mean, small chickens you can never get rid of. They can indeed be mean, but they are wonderfully self-sufficient and fun to have around even if it takes about thirty of their small eggs to make a decent omelet.
  2. brood
    the young of an animal cared for at one time
    Within days of hatching she had the whole brood coursing the yard looking for bugs or bits of grain that we threw to them.
  3. grouse
    popular game bird having a plump body and feathered legs
    Hawk was a protective mother and the chicks, both grouse and chicken, grew fast and well.
  4. woe
    misery resulting from affliction
    She watched like a hawk (hence her name) and woe unto anybody or anything that stepped too close to her chicks.
  5. carnivorous
    relating to flesh-eating animals
    Red squirrels are not carnivorous—they eat the insides of pine cones.
  6. plummet
    drop sharply
    It is easy to find the holes they make when they plummet into the snow but very hard to catch them off guard because when they hear the sound of someone or something coming through the snow, they explode up and out in a white cloud.
  7. willy-nilly
    in a random manner
    But the cedar waxwings didn’t just descend on the tree willy-nilly.
  8. lure
    something used to entice fish or other animals
    I was just working my lure in close to the boat when I heard the boy giggle quietly, and I turned to see him reaching out to touch a fawn.
  9. camouflage
    device or stratagem for concealment or deceit
    She was new, maybe two, three weeks old, still red with the camouflage spots.
  10. deliberate
    carefully thought out in advance
    It was very deliberate, a youngster meeting another youngster, and I was afraid to breathe lest the moment be broken.
  11. gratitude
    a feeling of thankfulness and appreciation
    We just sat for a time, watching the hazel brush where the fawn and mother had disappeared, and I had one long, intense moment of gratitude that is still going on, gratitude that I have seen such a thing.
  12. sluggish
    moving slowly
    The second time I was canoeing down a flat, winding river that cuts through the woods like a sluggish snake.
  13. horrendous
    causing fear or dread or terror
    Even in the split second of the event I could see the flies. They were horrendous—a thick mass of them on her head, a swarm trailing back like a comet’s tail as she flew through the air.
  14. defiance
    an act boldly resisting authority or an opposing force
    I have never seen such anger, such defiance compressed in a single moment.
  15. musing
    deeply or seriously thoughtful
    Musing, lost in the scene, I did not notice that the dogs were slowing and had stopped until my stomach rammed into the handlebar of the sled.
Created on Sat Dec 20 21:33:39 EST 2025 (updated Tue Feb 03 10:54:21 EST 2026)

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