CONVENTIONS Diagramming Sentences Content Methods Winter, 2011 Sheri Little

THE BASIC PARTS OF SPEECH  Noun = person, place, thing, or idea (ex. aunt, town, horse, love)  Used as:  Subject of a sentence (who or what does the action or “is” )  The snow covered the trees.  Object of a sentence (who or what receives the action)  The snow covered the trees.  Object of a preposition (noun in a prepositional phrase)  The snow covered the trees in the forest.  Verb = shows action (run, walk, ride) or state of being (am, is, was)  Tenses = present (walk), past (walked), future (will walk)  Voice = active (I ate the apple.), passive (The apple was eaten.)  Infinitives = TO give, TO walk, TO sing  State of Being verbs can be used a helping verbs with the gerund form (-ing form) of verbs. (am going, was riding, is hiding)

THE BASIC PARTS OF SPEECH  Adjective = describes nouns and other adjectives  Blue water, yellow flower, light green shirt  Adverb = describes/modifies verbs, adjectives, and other adverbs  Tells when, where, why, or under what condition  Typically –ly words (quickly, sincerely, fondly)  More /less/very - more helpful, less tired, very quickly  Preposition = shows position (in, under, on, beside, before, at, etc.)  Almost always used in a phrase (under the table, at the store)  NEVER end a sentence with a preposition. (Where the town is at.)  Either drop the preposition (Where the town is.) Or reword (The town’s place.)  Articles = a, an, the (tells which one)

Why diagram sentences? Sentence diagramming is a different way to see how a sentence is put together. Think of it as a graphic organizer! Students need to develop fluency, both in reading sentences and in developing them in writing. Diagramming can help them add depth and meaning in each. (The cat howled and scratched ferociously.)

How it works. Subject Each part of speech has it’s own place in a diagram. Let’s color code them for clarity. subject verb adverb article adjective object prepositional phrase Where do they go? VerbObject Article Adjective Adverb Preposition Object of Preposition

LET’S BEGIN!  Here’s our sentence.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.  I’ll color code it.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.

FIRST STEP:  Draw a baseline.

NEXT:  Find the subject.  Who or what is the sentence about?  Put it on the front of the line. Snow

NOW:  Find the verb.  What did the snow do?  Put it after the dividing line. Snow covered

NEXT:  Find the object.  What was covered?  Draw a short line after the verb. Put the object after that. Snow coveredtrees

AND NOW:  Here’s our sentence. Let’s cross out what we have used.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.  What word does “quietly” go with (modify)? It’s an adverb describing the word “covered”. Snow coveredtrees We put it on a slanted line under the word it modifies. quietly

NEXT:  We do the same with the articles and adjectives.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.  What do the words “the” and “bare” go with (modify)? Snow coveredtrees We put them on a slanted line under the word they modify. quietly the bare

ONE THING LEFT:  So what’s left in our sentence?  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.  We have a prepositional phrase to diagram. There are two steps. Snow coveredtrees First, what does the phrase “in the forest” go with (modify)? That’s how we decide where to diagram it. quietly the bare

ONE THING LEFT:  The phrase “in the forest” modifies the object, trees. Which trees? The ones in the forest.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest. Snow coveredtrees Next, we separate the preposition (in) and its object (forest). quietly the bare

ONE THING LEFT:  Here’s how we diagram them.  Snow quietly covered the bare trees in the forest.  The preposition goes on a small slanted line under the word it modifies. Snow coveredtrees Then the object goes on a line attached to its preposition. Put any articles or adjectives under the object as before. Pretty slick! quietly the barein forest the

THAT’S ALL THERE IS TO IT!  Diagramming sentences can seem intimidating. Like anything else, understanding the principles and the process unravels the mystery.  Students get excited about learning when we give them new tools to understand it. Conventions are the last bastion of BORING.  Let’s make them fun!  DIAGRAM!