Mary Ann,

     You raised a couple of interesting questions, but I'm wondering about whom you want to teach grammar, and for what purpose? As several people have already pointed out, there are different types of tree diagrams, as well as different ways to do Reed-Kellogg diagrams. If you are playing with
teachers, then there is probably no problem in introducing them to all of these. If you are trying to turn seventh graders into linguists, then I suppose that the same is true. On the other hand, if you are attempting to help students master some grammatical concepts so that they can improve their
understanding and control of sentences, then I would suggest that you should find one approach and stick with it. Otherwise, you will be spending so much time on the tools, that you will never have time to use them for the real questions of understanding.
     You do, however, raise a good point in the idea that the more "tools" in your belt, the better. The question is, however, are the "tools" entirely different, and often conflicting grammatical concepts, or are they different types of activities, exercises, and perspectives to convey the same basic
concepts? If that is your objective, I invite you (and anyone else who is interested) to visit (and contribute to) the KISS Grammar Instructional Matrices at
http://www2.pct.edu/courses/evavra/kiss/im/index.htm
I had intended not to mention these for a while, but your post raised the question, and I'm looking for contributions.
Thanks,
Ed V.

Mary Ann Yedinak wrote:

> I was taught diagramming in college--the honors program did no grammar instruction in high school; I believe the assumption was that we already knew it.  I find diagramming an interesting method of allowing the logical sequential learner another means of understanding the structure of our language.
>
> You mention tree diagrams.  I am intrigued.  Are there books out there on these?  What would you recommend?  I tend to think the more tools in my belt, the more students (and different styles of learners) I can reach.
>
> Thanks,
> Mary Ann Yedinak
>
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