<p>I was taught it in 6th grade and thought it was fun - the same way math is fun. Both my kids were taught the rudiments in middle school. I think for some visual thinkers it’s a helpful way to look at grammar. I don’t think it’s the be all and end all.</p>
<p>My younger son learned about comma splices in Freshman English in college.</p>
<p>Catholic school in the late 70’s early 80’s in 6-8th grade. It made a boring subject fun.
definitely helps with the grammar section on standardized exams, you can spot errors easily. My children never learned it, and they eventually learned the rules but I think it would have come much sooner if they learned how to diagram a sentence.</p>
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<p>Former homeschooler here. I recall giving my son problems with deterministic finite automata when he was very young. It was somewhat curious to me that if kids could understand these, they might be able to understand the structure of languages in a mathematical sense.</p>
<p>Many years later, he took Foundations of Computer Science where he ran into DFAs and then language theory - he made the connection to what he played with when he was very young. He later took Compiler Construction which further used these ideas. It’s pretty heady stuff seeing the nexus between language and mathematics.</p>
<p>I wonder if sentence diagramming would be especially beneficial to poetry writers?</p>
<p>I moved in 7th grade to a school that did sentence diagramming, so I had to learn it. It was easy, but I didn’t learn anything from it that I didn’t already know.</p>
<p>I’m not sure why poetry writers would need it, they can ignore those rules for poetry!</p>
<p>I loved diagramming sentences. It made perfect sense to me. I was disappointed that my kids were never taught it.</p>
<p>Never did it back in the 1960’s. Don’t recall son doing it. Learned my grammar nomenclature (such as past participle type junk and other advanced terms beyond noun, verb and adjective) in French class. Had parents who used proper English and read a lot- knowing the names of things didn’t make any difference to me. Did very well with language- NM Scholar et al.</p>
<p>We touched on diagramming every year (or so it seems in my memory) throughout my school years. It was like a game. It was helpful for understanding clauses and subject/verb agreement in complex sentences.</p>
<p>All three of my kids had diagramming in middle school.</p>
<p>All of us attended public schools.</p>
<p>Learned it in 5th grade from my mom. I had trouble figuring out direct objects and indirect objects (they were all just objects to me). So she showed me how to diagram sentences the way she was taught using different nomenclature. Made it very easy to tear a sentence apart and see its structure. It finally made sense.
I taught my kids diagramming. I don’t think they ever had it in school.</p>
<p>Son went to 4 yrs of private Catholic high school. Diagramming sentences and grammar in general were huge. Consequently, he is a excellent writer, but is now a card carrying member of the grammar police. He is constantly correcting me. :(</p>
<p>I read a lot, and my parents worked with my on proper grammar. I hated diagramming sentences, because it seemed so pointless; I already knew how to write. Perhaps it could have been fun in the context of poetry.</p>
<p>The only time that it was helpful was in Greek class. The Greek language, like Latin, allows writers to arrange their sentences however they see fit, so it was necessary to break it down, figure out which nouns went with which verbs, and put the adjectives where they belonged.</p>
<p>I was taught how to diagram sentences in 7th or 8th grade. Found it was very useful. I think it is very important to know how to use correct grammar and punctuation. It drives me crazy when people don’t know how to use proper grammar and pronunciation. One of my biggest pet peeves is the use of “myself” although, I admit, I don’t know use of myself 100%, lol. However, I always check anything I write very carefully, and ask a co-worker for help if necessary.</p>
<p>…btw, I dislike there is no spell check on CC :)</p>
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<p>Download Google Chrome.</p>
<p>I learned it in elementary school. I’m not in the “it’s pointless” camp; I do believe diagramming is a useful teaching tool for teaching grammar. That being said–being a “good” writer requires more than just knowledge of proper grammar.</p>
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<p>I assumed that all browsers had built-in spell-check but maybe some still don’t have it.</p>
<p>I’m European and I did it in secondary school and as far as I’m aware it’s still being taught (im 18 now). It’s really useful for grammar and it helps me in English as well. We had hundreds and hundreds of drills to make but I think it’s beneficial.</p>
<p>I always enjoyed diagraming sentences in middle school. There was something very satisfying about it–getting some kind of order out of complicated, chaotic sentences. (Of course, I went on to be an English major.) </p>
<p>The diagraming process is particularly instructive for those of us who tend to be visual learners. </p>
<p>Another “lost art” in the English classroom is the excercise of precis writing. Anyone remember that? Here is a great explanation of precis writing: [Tips</a> for Writing a Precis](<a href=“http://www.cgu.edu/pages/905.asp]Tips”>http://www.cgu.edu/pages/905.asp)</p>
<p>[Tips</a> for Writing a Precis](<a href=“http://www.cgu.edu/pages/905.asp]Tips”>http://www.cgu.edu/pages/905.asp)</p>
<p>I think diagramming is helpful. For example, I believe that the mistakes involving the proper usage of “me” and “I” would largely go away if everyone mentally diagrammed the sentence.Linguistics in college took diagramming to a whole new level.</p>
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<p>catera45,</p>
<p>What do you mean by that? How did it take diagramming to a whole new level?</p>
<p>So happy to see that someone other than me appreciates this lost art.
If you want a fun (really!) book on the topic, look for
Sister Bernadette’s Barking Dog: The Quirky History and Lost Art of Diagramming Sentences
I learned to diagram sentences in the mid-60s in Catholic grammar school. I found it like doing a puzzle, where every piece (word) has its place. It certainly helped me understand both the structure of English and of Latin later on in high school.
I have taught grammar, and IMO most grammar lessons are pretty boring. Diagramming, not generally in today’s curriculum, makes grammar more fun. I did try to introduce it to my own kids. They did not appreciate my enthusiasm. I do feel that it helps students understand the structure of a language.</p>