Big drama here this morning over grammar homework!

[Mermaid02]

My son was in a total snit over having to diagram sentences. At one point he said, "Tell me Mom, when was the last time you had to diagram a sentence?" my answer, "When I was in 7th grade and Mrs. Astbury made us." I didnt' know what to say except it's something you have to learn and then you can immediately forget it because you never need to do it again.

When was the last time YOU had to diagram a sentence?

 

[MIGrandma]

8th grade.

I wouldn't even know how to do it anymore.

 

[MushyMushy]

His teacher is my hero! I would love for schools to do more diagramming sentences.

I did it in high school and then brushed up on it when I went to school to become an English teacher. Boring? Yes. Seemingly pointless? Yes, but it's not. So many kids are so clueless about basic parts of speech these days and diagramming really gives them one way to understand what they are.

 

[PollyannaMom]

...When was the last time YOU had to diagram a sentence?

Well, here in the DIS, of course! Wasn't there a thread not too long ago about gerunds or something?

 

[Mermaid02]

His teacher is my hero! I would love for schools to do more diagramming sentences.

I did it in high school and then brushed up on it when I went to school to become an English teacher. Boring? Yes. Seemingly pointless? Yes, but it's not. So many kids are so clueless about basic parts of speech these days and diagramming really gives them one way to understand what they are.

She's a wonderful teacher- one of my favorites as a matter of fact!

 

[Sparx]

The 4th grade. We did "Shirley Method." I can still remember about half of the jingles haha.

 

[Denine]

Maybe diagramming sentences helps some kids. I always felt they were POINTLESS!!! I had more trouble figuring out what stupid line the word was supposed to go on. I KNEW the parts of speech.
This is going to be a problem area eventually in my house since I homeschool my dd. She is just finishing 2nd grade now.

 

[FireDancer]

The school I attended was very big on diagramming sentences. We started in 5th grade and went through 8th. I have to admit that while it seemed futile at the time it made it much easier to learn grammar and what words were, like direct vs indirect objects.

 

[ZephyrHawk]

A series of books I'm somewhat fond of has a phrase the main characters tend to repeat and which I've adopted. Someday I will use it when my children ask why they have to learn something they'll very likely never use again:

"All knowledge is worth having."

 

[NMAmy]

When I was in elementary school back when dinosaurs roamed, teachers were up in arms because they were using new textbooks that did NOT include diagramming sentences. I've never diagrammed a sentence in my life and I'm still able to write and speak properly so I don't think it's a necessary skill.

And, yes, my dd was a little miffed when she asked me that same question and I replied, "Oh, I've never done that."

 

[stashbin]

A series of books I'm somewhat fond of has a phrase the main characters tend to repeat and which I've adopted. Someday I will use it when my children ask why they have to learn something they'll very likely never use again:

"All knowledge is worth having."

I love this! Sometimes adult learners need to hear this too!

 

[Praying Colonel]

My son was in a total snit over having to diagram sentences. At one point he said, "Tell me Mom, when was the last time you had to diagram a sentence?" my answer, "When I was in 7th grade and Mrs. Astbury made us." I didnt' know what to say except it's something you have to learn and then you can immediately forget it because you never need to do it again.

When was the last time YOU had to diagram a sentence?

I haven't had to diagram a sentence since Gerald Ford was President. However, I have to use grammar rules every day, and diagramming sentences, while tedious, is one way to start learning those rules.

 

[Christine]

The school I attended was very big on diagramming sentences. We started in 5th grade and went through 8th. I have to admit that while it seemed futile at the time it made it much easier to learn grammar and what words were, like direct vs indirect objects.

Same here.

I had a 7th grade teacher who was a maniac about diagramming sentences. We had to do about 20 per day. I hated it at the time (well, I really didn't because English was *my* thing and I felt so inferior in math), but I think it is the one exercise that made my writing so much better. Sentence structure was just kind of burned into my brain.

 

[Missy1961]

When I was in elementary school back when dinosaurs roamed, teachers were up in arms because they were using new textbooks that did NOT include diagramming sentences. I've never diagrammed a sentence in my life and I'm still able to write and speak properly so I don't think it's a necessary skill.

And, yes, my dd was a little miffed when she asked me that same question and I replied, "Oh, I've never done that."

I may have gone to school a little after you (I think the dinosaurs were gone by then, but only gone for a few years) & I have never diagrammed a sentence either. Luckily, I don't have kids.

 

[PrincessKsMom]

Sorry I'm in the camp of it being pointless. Hated this more than anything else I was asked to do in school, except for dissecting a frog, which I refused to do. DD is graduating 8th grade this year and, thankfully, has never had to diagram sentences. JMO

 

[MarilIncredible]

6th grade (Broward Co., FL, 1986).

I think it did contribute to my ability to write well.

 

[jackemail]

Diagrammed sentences just last week! Of course, I was helping 5th grade granddaughter with her homework. She also asked why she had to learn to diagram, but it is helping her remember prepositions, adverbs, etc.

I'd rather help her with grammar homework than Math!

 

[LindaG4458]

My 8th grade teacher was a fanatic about sentence diagrams. She even had us diagram poetry! Of course, it was in 1962....

Regardless, I found it to be helpful over the years.

 

[marcyinPA]

OmG....I go through this kind of crap with my 9th grade son all the time. "Why do we have to learn this? I'll NEVER use it."....Well, sorry, kid, but that's life. Life is full of doing things that you don't want to do. Get over it!

I can't even remember the last time I diagrammed a sentence! Long, long ago, perhaps when the dinosaurs roamed the earth!

 

[harleyquinn]

I did it in college. Never did in grade school. I LOVED it!! Made things so much easier to understand for me.