Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Pare it down to the noun (person, place, or thing), which should be written to the left of that
vertical line.
Together, those two words (the noun and the verb that you wrote on either side of the vertical
line) form the sentence in its simplest form. Everything else is extra. Adjectives describe nouns
and are placed diagonally beneath the nouns they describe. Adverbs are also placed below the
words they describe, and so forth.
MadLibs (www.madlibs.com.com) is another fun retro teaching tool. I am happy to say that the
books are still being published. Its a two-player game. One person takes the book and asks the
other person for specific parts of speech needed to complete a story in the book. The person may
be given the theme, but otherwise he has no clue about the story. When all the blanks have been
filled, the two players read the story together. The end result is often wacky but shows that as
long as you have the correct part of speech in the correct place in the sentence, it works.
When children learn the parts of speech, they learn the rules that make our language tick. They
increase their vocabulary as they use the thesaurus to express themselves in different ways, by
using synonyms. They become better writers because they understand how different words
function in the sentence, giving insight into their own thinking and that of others. They are then
able to refine their writing to communicate their thoughts more precisely. Communicating
effectively is a life skill that will aid them wherever they go.
Amy is married to DJ, her high school sweetheart. They have three wonderful childrena
computer genius, an artist, and a princess. When not homeschooling or tending to her chickens or
her husband, Amy enjoys writing. She hopes to make a career of it some daymaybe when the
chickens move out. Amy can be contacted at amylynn.nicholson@gmail.com.
Copyright 2012, used with permission. All rights reserved by author. Originally appeared in the
December 2012 issue of The Old Schoolhouse Magazine, the family education magazine. Read
the magazine free at www.TOSMagazine.com or read it on the go and download the free apps at
www.TOSApps.com to read the magazine on your mobile devices.
Endnotes:
. Lunsford, Andrea and Connors, Robert, The St. Martins Handbook, New York: St. Martins Press,
1989, p. 138.
2. Instructional Fair, Inc., Better Sentence Structure Through Diagramming, Grand Rapids, MI:
Instructional Fair, 1995, p. 1.
Useful Websites
Sentence diagramming examples:
http://grammar.ccc.commnet.edu/grammar/diagrams/diagrams.htm
drb.lifestreamcenter.net/Lessons/TS/diagram.htm