Margin Notes

Jess Zafarris is an author, podcaster, and Tiktok Creator who loves to talk about, and share her knowledge of, the etymology (origins) of words. Some of her works lean towards the naughtier side of language, which makes for some great entertainment for adults.

However, I think her blog, “Useless Etymology”, could be a source of fascination and knowledge-building for high school students. With in-depth posts on the surprising origins of words like “electric”, “nostalgia”, and “dude”, students will broaden their vocabulary and deepen their understanding of the roots of the English language. (While at the same time being entertained by Jess’s GIF game!)

First, you could use a strategy like Vocabulary Rating to determine if students are familiar with the word, then have students fill in a Frayer Model with their current knowledge of the word. Following that, read the blog post together and then see how their understanding of the word changes after the reading. Then, students could go back to the Frayer Model that they completed and see what they could add.

I’m sure students would then be inspired to write about the etymology of their own “useless” words. Etymonline.com is wonderful resource for researching the origins of words (and it’s available as an app as well).

As Steven Stahl (2005) puts it, “Vocabulary knowledge is knowledge; the knowledge of a word not only implies a definition, but also implies how that word fits into the world.” Blogs like “Useless Etymology” can help students figure out how words fit into their world.

Try this tomorrow!