Alan & Brenda Leonard

> becoming more relaxed -- no formal spelling, dropping the idea of learning
> diagramming and memorizing all of the parts of speach, history being just the

Relaxed is fun! But I have a new thing we can yak on, just cause I've
always wanted to know:
If we assume that there is (or at least once was) a purpose, somewhere, for
the things schools teach.....(a rash assumption, perhaps, but bear with
me)....
what is/was the point of diagramming sentences beyond the obvious grade for
the assignment/know it for the test thing? Has *anybody* EVER used this?
I always wondered!
brenda

[email protected]

In a message dated 4/24/2002 8:21:39 PM Pacific Standard Time,
abtleo@... writes:


> what is/was the point of diagramming sentences beyond the obvious grade for
> the assignment/know it for the test thing? Has *anybody* EVER used this?

Nope! LOL... Well, except for the time when my oldest dd asked me what it
was and how to do it one day after hearing her cousin talk about "awful
diagramming", but other than that, I haven't used it at all since I've been
out o school. : )

Sandra
Homeschooling Mom to Five


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Jennifer Deets

Brenda wrote:

Has *anybody* EVER used this?
I always wondered!

I diagrammed tons of Russian and English sentences when I was a student in Slavic Linguistics. Although I know most of us aren't learning Russian and Polish and Czech, it *really* helped me to play around with the sentences. I have since diagrammed sentences with my university students (prospective teachers and graduate students in education) to explain to them why punctuation is important and how placement of phrases can be ambiguous.

We talk so much about multiple ways of knowing and this is a really helpful way for visual learners to grab what's happening in a sentence.

Maybe I'm just an oddball (no one here would be the first to say so!), but I thought it was great fun and a terrific break from the ho-hum of regular work.

A hint for those who might want to try diagramming in a new way, see what happens when you use colors to differentiate parts of speech. It can become another way for those visual types to see when to use 'who' and when to use 'whom' for example.

Jennifer


[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]

Lynda

But Brenda, that was one of the only fun things we did in school <g>

Lynda
----- Original Message -----
From: "Alan & Brenda Leonard" <abtleo@...>
To: <[email protected]>
Sent: Wednesday, April 24, 2002 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [Unschooling-dotcom] sentences


> > becoming more relaxed -- no formal spelling, dropping the idea of
learning
> > diagramming and memorizing all of the parts of speach, history being
just the
>
> Relaxed is fun! But I have a new thing we can yak on, just cause I've
> always wanted to know:
> If we assume that there is (or at least once was) a purpose, somewhere,
for
> the things schools teach.....(a rash assumption, perhaps, but bear with
> me)....
> what is/was the point of diagramming sentences beyond the obvious grade
for
> the assignment/know it for the test thing? Has *anybody* EVER used this?
> I always wondered!
> brenda
>
>
>
> ~~~ Don't forget! If you change the topic, change the subject line! ~~~
>
> To unsubscribe from this group, send an email to:
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>
>

rumpleteasermom

Well, as a visual learner, I learned a lot from diagramming sentences.
It helped me 'see' how modifiers related to the rest of the sentece
and understand about misplcing them and the effects that can have.

I bought my girls a diagramming workbook and showed them a bit about
it, but they didn't find it as fun or interesting as I did, so I let
it go. I guess it's useful to some and not to others.

Bridget

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., Alan & Brenda Leonard <abtleo@e...>
wrote:

> what is/was the point of diagramming sentences beyond the obvious
grade for
> the assignment/know it for the test thing? Has *anybody* EVER used
this?
> I always wondered!
> brenda

rumpleteasermom

--- In Unschooling-dotcom@y..., "Jennifer Deets" <jdeets@c...> wrote:

> I have since diagrammed sentences with my university students
> (prospective teachers and graduate students in education) to explain
> to them why punctuation is important and how placement of phrases
> can be ambiguous.

Two thing:

1. Have you ever read Anquished English, by Richard Lederer?

2. Have you ever seen this one:

A woman without her man is nothing

Add the punctuation. Men and women tend to add it differently.


Bridget