Diagramming ??

[jibaker103]

I have chosen Easy Grammar Plus for my 7th grade nephew because I already have it here. What workbook can I use to teach diagramming? Will I be able to use this for my 10th grade ds as well who never learned to diagram?

[nansk]

You can get Rex Barks or Mary Daly's First Whole Book of Diagrams from Amazon.

 

Also, I posted some free links on this thread.

[Sweet Home Alabama]

CLE has a couple of books about diagramming. One shows examples of diagrams that are both simple and complex called Basics of Diagramming. The other is a workbook. There is also an answer key for this one.

 

http://www.clp.org/store/by_course/132

 

This page is found under Support Materials and then Teacher Resources.

[Capt_Uhura]

Can I piggy back on this thread? In SWB's writing MP3, she gives several sentences and diagrams them. She talks about if in your diagram your clauses are all waiting in the middle, you have a poorly written sentence and that you'll learn this in your diagramming books. I've check out Rex barks several times, I use several online diagramming resources, I have one or two diagramming workbooks, but in none of them do I see any discussion about how to tell a good sentence based on how it diagrams. Maybe it's in Rex Barks and I missed it. Does the Daly book have info on good sentence structure?

 

Thanks,

Capt Uhura

[Hunter]

I'm working my way through Climbing to Good English 3 because I wanted to master the respelling exercises (dictionary skills). I'm impressed with the diagramming exercises.

Edited August 23, 2011 by Hunter

[nansk]

Can I piggy back on this thread? In SWB's writing MP3, she gives several sentences and diagrams them. She talks about if in your diagram your clauses are all waiting in the middle, you have a poorly written sentence and that you'll learn this in your diagramming books. I've check out Rex barks several times, I use several online diagramming resources, I have one or two diagramming workbooks, but in none of them do I see any discussion about how to tell a good sentence based on how it diagrams. Maybe it's in Rex Barks and I missed it. Does the Daly book have info on good sentence structure?

 

Thanks,

Capt Uhura

 

 

This is one of the questions I have always wanted to know but was too afraid to ask. :tongue_smilie:

 

I thought I would learn this art (of seeing a good sentence or a bad one) once I learnt diagramming properly.

 

Now, I have worked through several online diagramming resources and one diagramming workbook. I can diagram many textbook sentences with different constructs. I find I like diagramming because I am a visual learner and because it appeals to the programmer in me. But I still can't tell from the diagram why a sentence is poorly constructed.

 

I can tell, though, intuitively, from having read a lot, that a sentence is not well written or is not impactful enough.

[jibaker103]

This is one of the questions I have always wanted to know but was too afraid to ask. :tongue_smilie:

 

I thought I would learn this art (of seeing a good sentence or a bad one) once I learnt diagramming properly.

 

Now, I have worked through several online diagramming resources and one diagramming workbook. I can diagram many textbook sentences with different constructs. I find I like diagramming because I am a visual learner and because it appeals to the programmer in me. But I still can't tell from the diagram why a sentence is poorly constructed.

 

I can tell, though, intuitively, from having read a lot, that a sentence is not well written or is not impactful enough.

So, then what is the purpose of diagramming. I thought learning a good sentence from a bad one was the whole point! I really want to understand this before spending even more money on curriculum!!!!

[Capt_Uhura]

Well, my take on it is if you have trouble diagramming it, it's probably a bad sentence. SWB gives examples on her middle grades MP3. I saw a blog post once of sentence diagrams of two politicians and how the diagrams differed. One politician spoke clearly and the other, not so much and it was evident when you looked at the diagrams. I have always been listening to SWB's MP3s while doing something. Today, I will listen to them w/ the slides in front of me so I can see on the screen rather than just in my head, what she means by having too many clauses on one part of your diagram looking ugly...they should be spread out.

[nansk]

I don't have those slides, but I have listened to the MP3 lectures over and over again. I think I can visualize the diagrams she discussed. Those do make sense.

 

The diagrams of the two politicians' sentences also made sense, but then, you could still see, without the aid of the diagrams, that the second politician's sentence did not make much (or any) sense.

 

With some sentences, I am sure we can use this test - try to diagram it, and if you can't see where each piece fits, then the sentence needs to be reworded. It may well be that our students learn to write sentences that can be diagrammed, but can we interpret the diagram to see right away whether or not the sentence is elegant? And, how will diagramming help to make it even better?

 

I am not sure how I can tell a good sentence from a great one - for instance, the opening line of The Hobbit, which SWB also referred to. Why, when that sentence is turned around, does it sound more poetic?

 

I wish there was a diagramming book that had lots of examples of passable sentences turned into great sentences with the aid of the diagram.