ArtsAutosBooksBusinessEducationEntertainmentFamilyFashionFoodGamesGenderHealthHolidaysHomeHubPagesPersonal FinancePetsPoliticsReligionSportsTechnologyTravel

Do Children Need to Learn How to Diagram Sentences?

Updated on December 21, 2011

Diagram Sentences or Skip It?

Diagramming, also called parsing, is a tool for understanding grammar. So if your child can understand grammar without diagramming, no, it is not necessary. You don't have to teach diagramming in your homeschool language arts curriculum. But there are several advantages for using diagramming, especially for certain types of learners.

Advantages to Diagramming Sentences

Although diagramming is not an absolute necessity, there are some real advantages to learning how to do it.

»»Thorough Analysis of Grammar

With diagramming, each and every word in a sentence is placed somewhere onto the diagram. This means that when you diagram a sentence, you analyze that sentence from top to bottom and every bit in between. You can't skip over the "tough parts." You have to work every word onto that diagram.

»»Visual Representation of Sentence Structures

Grammatically there are only three types of sentences -- simple, compound, and complex. But of course, it's not nearly as simple as it sounds. There are a myriad of different grammatical structures that each of those sentences can have -- direct objects, complements, verbal phrases, adjective clauses, etc.

»»Mental Workout

Diagramming sentences has been likened to a brain teaser. A sentence serves as a puzzle that is solved through the diagram. The mental challenge makes for a good workout for the mind, forcing a child to think analytically and methodically.

How to Teach Diagramming

Start with just a couple of grammatical structures -- the subject and verb, for example. Then slowly add on additional components: adjectives, articles, direct objects, indirect objects, prepositional phrases, clauses, compound sentences, etc.

Make sure the child knows how to master that one grammatical form before moving on to another. If you introduce too much at once, it may be overwhelming.

Besides diagramming existing sentences, there are other diagramming activities.

1. Offer two or three blank diagrams along with a sentence and ask your child which diagram layout would fit the sentence.

2. Give your child blank diagrams to fill in with his own sentences. (Use spelling or vocabulary words for an even greater challenge.)

Commercial workbooks make teaching diagramming easier on the homeschool mom. Try some of those linked to the right.

A Complex Sentence Diagrammed

an image taken from a book in the public domain at Google books
an image taken from a book in the public domain at Google books | Source

The diagrammed sentence above is as follows:

The patriot, whom the corrupt tremble to see arise, may well feel a grateful satisfaction in the mighty power which heaven has delegated to him, when he thinks that he has used it for those purposes only which heaven approves.

What Kinds of Students Benefit from Diagramming Sentences

Students who are highly visual and visual-spatial will benefit from the practice of diagramming sentences. They are naturally prone to see patterns, so analyzing a sentence graphically makes perfect sense to them. The very act of diagramming a sentence often causes a child to realize that what he originally thought about the sentence was wrong.

Sentence diagramming is something of a new language by which the grammatical structures of a sentence are laid out with the relationships among words clearly shown. This kind of visual language is helpful for a visual-spatial child who sees in 3D rather than in words. He doesn't have to mentally reach for the word "direct object;" instead, he can draw the word in the right space in the diagram and still understand its function in the sentence.

A Few Sample Sentence Parts a Child Can Diagram or Label

sentence parts
abbreviation
marking
subject
S
underline once
predicate
P
underline twice
verb
v
-
prepositional phrase
PP
suround with parentheses
direct object
do
circle
indirect object
io
draw a box around
predicate adjective
PA
draw an arrow back to the subject
predicate nominative (noun)
PN
draw an arrow back to the subject
adjective clause
Adj Cl
bracket
adverb clause
Adv Cl
bracket

These are only suggestions. Devise your own system of abbreviations or symbols for marking sentences if you choose not to diagram.

Diagramming a Chore? An Alternative

If diagramming is a total disaster for your child, you can use other methods to teach grammar in your homeschool language arts. One alternative to diagramming is to simply label each word in the sentence with its function. You can use abbreviations such as those in the chart below. You can also use special marks or color coding to annotate the sentence.

The point of diagramming is to analyze grammar, so if the layout of the diagram is distracting instead of helpful, switch to another method. Remember, diagramming is not essential to a language arts curriculum.

Did You Benefit from Diagramming?

Think about your own experience in school. Did diagramming suit you?

See results
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)