Does PS teach diagramming?

[1GirlTwinBoys]

Just curious if this is taught now.

[GingerPoppy]

:lol:

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Ahem.

 

No, not where I live (I say this as a parent and teacher).

[Ellie]

Are you kidding? They barely teach grammar at all. :glare:

[Roadrunner]

Are you kidding? They barely teach grammar at all. :glare:

 

:lol: absolutely true in our school.

 

 

However, the neighboring district apparently does.

[Tiberia]

I went through PS in the 70's and it wasn't taught.

 

I was trained as an English teacher and I never learned it, and of course I never taught it.

 

I'm happily learning it now alongside my second grader!

[Ellie]

FTR, I graduated from high school in 1969, and we had diagramming in my English class. I'm thinking I was the last generation. :lol:

[Daisy]

No.

 

They teach the eight parts of speech and that's about it.

[carlamom2ansnm]

I never had it (graduated 1995) and my niece who is in Jr. High now has not had it yet. I assume they don't do it here at all anymore.

[GWOB]

I vaguely remember diagramming sentences in 2nd grade. That was in 1987 in Georgia. It never came up again, and I was in "gifted" classes the whole way.

[Lovin Learnin]

I remember diagramming sentences in the mid 70s during 6th grade. I'm pretty sure we didn't cover it any other years and I know that my children have never learned it.

[4ofus]

I diagrammed in the 7th grade in the 80s. I don't remember it before or after that. But I remember enjoying it :). I think I was the only person in my English class that enjoyed it.

 

I also have fond fond memories of my "Little Brown Handbook" from 9th grade English. :) I guess I'm weird.

 

My son is diagramming a bit. I wondered too if that is ever taught in schools anymore.

[Mommy2BeautifulGirls]

I learned it in 8th grade, and I graduated in '92.

[Daisy]

I learned it in school but I went to private school. I graduated in 1990.

[gratitude]

I went through the gifted program/Honors English/etc. I never saw anything beyond noun, verb, and adjective.

 

Diagramming in public school?:lol::lol: I didn't even see grammar! Some great literature in the honor program, but zero grammar.

 

I am learning it now with my second grader in R&S English. The first lessons in diagramming, I am assuming, as he has to pick all the nouns out of a sentence and say if it is a Who, What, or Where. Awesome. I don't know why, but I love this stuff and really wish someone had taught it to me.

 

I think public school's idea these days is creative writing in 1st grade before they can really even spell. :lol:

[Heidi @ Mt Hope]

I diagrammed in the 7th grade in the 80s. I don't remember it before or after that. But I remember enjoying it :). I think I was the only person in my English class that enjoyed it.

 

 

My son is diagramming a bit. I wondered too if that is ever taught in schools anymore.

 

:iagree: Only it was 8th grade advanced English class. I only vaguely remember it, but I know that I liked it. :)

 

My son and I enjoy diagramming now.

[razorbackmama]

I graduated from high school in 1992. I think we did SOME my senior year??????? I KNOW we did it when I was in 6th grade.

 

No clue if they teach it in the district we live in. Of course, our schools here stink so I'm going to guess no.

 

My dh's school did not teach it. He says he might actually have understood grammar slightly if they had, since he is so visual.:glare:

[Ibbygirl]

I graduated HS in 1989. Never even heard of sentence diagramming until I read The Well Trained Mind.

[deerforest]

We spent a lot of 6th grade diagramming in the mid 70s; I graduated in '87.

[Joyofsixreboot]

My 3 ps high school kids say zero grammar is taught here.

[snowbeltmom]

FTR, I graduated from high school in 1969, and we had diagramming in my English class. I'm thinking I was the last generation. :lol:

I graduated in the mid 1980's. We had diagramming in my English classes, too.:D

[chepyl]

I remember doing a little in elementary school, just noun and verb. In my private high school, we did a lot, but not consistently.

[boscopup]

I learned it in public high school in the mid 90's. I don't know what they do now.

[Lulamae]

I graduated in 1988 and I remember diagramming in the 9th grade. I remember thinking we would never stop diagramming! I enjoyed it but it just kept going, and going, and going... -lu

[angela in ohio]

As with everything else, it depends on the school.

 

I graduated in '92, and I was thoroughly taught grammar and diagramming, including hours and hours of dagramming homework and conjugations.

 

I talk to local parents and teachers about what their dc are learning (my sil teaches 4th grade, the Scout parents have 3rd-6th graders, etc.,) and it really seems to depend on the teacher and the school system. For example, I know previous high school teachers from two local districts that aren't known for great academics, and one didn't know anything about grammar and the other thought spelling and grammar instruction were outdated because of Word. :001_huh: At our local PS, they are teaching diagramming at least in some junior high classes, though.

[armom]

I agree that it depends on the school and where you live. I have no idea if it is taught in our local school system, but I somehow don't think it is. I remember going over it in school but not for long.

[grace'smom]

I diagrammed in the 7th grade in the 80s. I don't remember it before or after that. But I remember enjoying it :). I think I was the only person in my English class that enjoyed it.

 

I also have fond fond memories of my "Little Brown Handbook" from 9th grade English. :) I guess I'm weird.

 

My son is diagramming a bit. I wondered too if that is ever taught in schools anymore.

 

 

I STILL have my Little Brown Handbook, LOL! We were taught diagramming in high school and I graduated in 1995, but I lived in a very good school district.

[EKS]

I was taught diagramming in public school in 1978 but my sense now is that it wasn't actually part of the regular curriculum; I think this particular teacher just liked it. I then continued to learn in in private schools from 1978-1980. One of my teachers in one of the private schools was this older woman (she seemed totally ancient to me then, but I think she was really only 60 or so) who had us go up two at a time to the black board and have diagramming races. She would say a sentence and we would diagram it as fast as we could. I always won. Many times my opponents wouldn't even have gotten started by the time I finished. I realize now that it was probably because they were having trouble remembering the sentence.

 

Now they don't teach diagramming or really any grammar that is more complicated than parts of speech and subject and predicate.

[Dmmetler]

My DD's former school (parochial) does Shurley English.

[Stratford]

Nope. I didn't learn it when I was in school, either.

[Kathryn]

The closest we got was parsing sentences in 7th grade in the advanced English class. I don't think any of the other classes did it. We had to make hundreds of cards with different words on them and color-code them to parts of speech. Then we would build sentences with them. We'd have to copy sentences and parse them. I remember that she had a poster that she glued a box to and then glued words all over and that's how we learned prepositions. Anything we could do TO the box (over the box, under the box, through the box, etc.) was a preposition. She also drilled into us lie vs. lay by having us LIE on the floor and LAY our pencils on our desks.

 

We never actually diagrammed though, which is quite different than parsing. Until recently, I really didn't think it mattered. But, when I started thinking about grammar programs and whether or not I wanted to teach/learn diagramming, I realized that even though my instructors always considered me a very good writer, if I had been taught diagramming, I'd be even better. Just from the very little I know of it from my recent research, I see how greatly it benefits a writer.

[leeannpal]

I'm a private school 7th grade English teacher, and I most certainly do teach how to diagram sentences. Grammar is much more than the 8 parts of speech in my classes. We are learning about verbal phrases and moving into subordinate clauses soon. Punctuation and capitalization rules will be taught later in the year.

[kewb]

I don't recall learning how to diagram sentences. It is possible I learned back in the 70's/80's but I don't think it was taught.

[Cosmos]

My 3 ps high school kids say zero grammar is taught here.

 

Several people in the thread have said this -- no grammar (or very little) is taught in ps today.

 

How is this possible? I don't understand how teachers can give writing instruction without touching on grammar. How can they teach that a compound sentence requires a comma before the coordinating conjunction without talking about what a compound sentence is or what a conjunction is? How can they address run-on sentences without talking about independent clauses?

 

Is it perhaps that no formal grammar is studied separately but that it's incorporated into the writing instruction?

[angela in ohio]

Is it perhaps that no formal grammar is studied separately but that it's incorporated into the writing instruction?

 

Not usually. Doing this requires highly educated teachers. You can't teach something in that way without knowing it deeply, and current teacher education programs don't often provide that.

 

I've seen plenty of writing instruction that doesn't incorporate grammar, even some for homeschoolers. :001_smile:

 

Students in many schools are encouraged to "just write." Worrying about grammar and punctuation will supposedly inhibit their creativity and their desire to write. As I've been told by more than one high school English teacher (in a very condescending way,) modern technology eliminates the need for learning such lower level skills. :D

[breadnbutter]

I learned diagramming in 5th/6th grade in the 80's, but it was in the gifted class and we had an incredibly talented and gifted teacher.

 

Just today as we were doing our diagrams my dd said that her ps girlfriend next door "doesn't know what diagrams are". So I guess our public schools aren't doing them... and it's funny that I guess that came up in conversation somehow. :)

[Chibby]

I went to a private school in 6th and 7th grades and learned how to diagram thanks to an AWESOME teacher who expected nothing but the best from us.

 

I loved it. It really helped me understand grammar. I still picture a diagram of a sentence when I am deciding if I should use "I" or "me".

 

I am definitely going to be teaching it to my kids.

[Mommee & Baba]

I remember diagramming in school. I loved it!:001_smile:

[Angie in VA]

Are you kidding? They barely teach grammar at all. :glare:

 

 

 

This.

 

Last weekend I saw an English teacher w/ whom I'd worked in a ps. She asked if I were still teaching, to which I replied, "Yes, but just my children now." I mentioned diagramming sentences and she turned to my dd (the only dc w/ me at the time) and said, "You NEVER need that in real life, ya know."

 

Gee, thanks, English teacher! :glare:

[Kalmia]

I loved diagramming in middle and high school (1980s). My friend's husband, who is a high school English teacher and natural grammarian, is one of the last holdouts. He thoroughly teaches grammar and diagramming. The kids complain mightily, because none of the other teachers in his school do this. Then many of them come back to visit after they have been to college for a year or two, and they thank him for being so tough.

 

The only other public school doing this that I know of is a wealthy district in MA where one of my friend's sons go. They start in 7th with simple sentences. I don't know how far they go with it.

Edited January 27, 2012 by Kalmia

[lea1]

I graduated in '81 and we definitely covered in our school, although I don't remember what grade.

[Shellers]

I graduated in 1987, and never learned how to diagram. My DD's (21, 15, & 14) have never diagrammed in public school. My homeschooled DS is just now learning about diagramming.

[KrissiK]

I graduated high school in '86 and don't remember ever diagramming. I think most of the parts of speech I learned from Saturday morning cartoons (Conjunction Junction, what's that function? Hookin' up words and phrases and clauses!) (I'm just a Bill, yes I'm only a Bill and I'm sittin' here on Capitol Hill). I learned what diagramming even was by taking an English class in college.

[Beth in SW WA]

Doubt it. My neighbor girl (5th) told me they learned nouns and verbs this year and are 'done' with grammar.

[Leanna76]

I graduated high school in 1995 in Cleveland, TN. We diagrammed sentences 7th grade-10th grade. I dont know if they still teach diagramming, but I know it was once taught. There are some good public schools in this area. We aren't homeschooling because of poor public schools.

[razorbackmama]

I think public school's idea these days is creative writing in 1st grade before they can really even spell. :lol:

This is actually not far off! I graduated from college in August, and part of my degree is in education (I have a "3-way split" sort of degree...hard to explain). "Just write" and don't get in the way of their creativity so as to not quench their "love of writing" (which apparently all children are supposed to have until we ruin it for them????????) is exactly what teachers these days are taught to do.

 

I'm not kidding when I say this...my husband has a doctorate. He has learned how to write ON THE JOB. He did not learn it in school.

[TracyR]

No, even some private schools don't teach much grammar at all either.

We are using CLE for LA and my daughter about had a hissy fit with the diagramming because we've never used a program with diagramming before.

 

I learned diagramming but that was because I went to an Ace school for a few years and the Ace Paces also teach it as well. I graduated in 1994. There are some schools that use it but are really hard to find.

 

But public school? NO way. They are too busy teaching them to the test and the states tests do not have diagramming in them.

 

I had no idea my daughter wasn't doing grammar in school until the end of the last school year. Both my husband and I were livid. We paid money for her to go and learn and she said they did three lessons on grammar all year! Ackkkkk! So now we're playing catch up.

The weird part about it though is the younger grades definitely had grammar. But my daughter was in 6th and none was being done. Now the 6th grade teacher is the 3rd/4th grade teacher at the school so I'm curious to how much grammar instruction those kids are getting now.

Edited January 27, 2012 by TracyR

[DragonflyAcademy]

No, I graduated in 94 and never diagramed a sentence.. in fact until it came up in HSing.. I didn't even know one could diagram a sentence...

 

I studies to be an elementary teacher..and it was never discussed either...

 

I had to learn it alongside my kiddos...

[SunD]

Several people in the thread have said this -- no grammar (or very little) is taught in ps today.

 

How is this possible? I don't understand how teachers can give writing instruction without touching on grammar. How can they teach that a compound sentence requires a comma before the coordinating conjunction without talking about what a compound sentence is or what a conjunction is? How can they address run-on sentences without talking about independent clauses?

 

Is it perhaps that no formal grammar is studied separately but that it's incorporated into the writing instruction?

 

They don't give writing instruction. English is an ethereal subject, confined to the textbook exercises and never, ever connected to actual composition. It contains lessons on comma usage, but you just punctuate the sentences at the end of the chapter, and maybe choose correct punctuation on a multiple-choice test. When you're actually writing you don't get any feedback right then. You hand in your work, the teacher notes that you need a comma in a sentence, you insert it, and you're done. That process of writing, handing in, checking, and fixing might take place over a week or more. By the time you get the sentence fixed, you might not remember writing it. There's no discussion of why that's so or even a reminder about the comma lesson in the textbook. There's no time for that because you already did the comma lesson and the next day you have to move on to question marks or whatever.

 

I graduated in 2004, so this is a very recent time I'm talking about. I had classmates who put a period at the end of every line, whether it was the end of the sentence or not, when we were in tenth grade. We went through the motions of working through the English II textbook that year, but it all went over their heads because the process was like what I described above. The teacher was busy trying to keep on schedule, plus teach basic spelling and punctuation to 20% of the class so they could "pass" their standardized tests.

 

I would insert commas in compound sentences and they would use them in their next draft without asking why. I would mark run-ons and note to break them into two sentences, so they did it. All their essays read like The Cat in the Hat, but anything else would have required me to teach the background grammar, etc, and that wasn't my job. I was only proofreading when I felt like being nice. By that point I was pretty bitter about being used as a tutor.

 

(This happened in Louisiana, which is either 49th or 50th in education, depending on which year you look up, but this particular district boasts that it's in the top ten in the state. Top ten of the bottom is still ... the bottom. I'm sure there are some PS out there where this stuff is taught.)

[jayb842]

We learned them in 7th and 8th grade. I learned it and my honors class sister didn't!:lol: We were in the same class. I taught it to my 5th and 6th graders in Nebraska. I came back to Texas to teach 5th grade. I was told no grammar in the 5th grade and no writing either. You should just teach reading to pass the state test.

[Virg]

I graduated in 99 and had never heard of it before A Beka. I even went to a very advanced private school 1-7th.