I am a high school English teacher and have used diagrams to demonstrate how
our language works to create meaningful statements. I teach seniors and have
noticed that they have not learned how do assess the meanings of sentences,
not alone complicated paragraphs. Unable to deal with the most atomic levels
of meaning creation (the sentence), they get lost in the kinds of materials
found on SAT exams. I think that English needs to be taught at this celluar
(atomic) level through close scrutiny of how sentences create meaning.
Through the use of diagraming, my students are able to understand what
subordinate clauses do, what participial phrases do, what infintive phrases
do, etc. Diagrams--previously considered very old-fashioned--become puzzles
for them: they have to assess what is being modified and where to place
words.   Diagrams are offered in most grammar books as visual aids to
delineate certain grammatical issues. Is anyone familiar with any books which
focu exclusively on diagraming as a teaching device?  Are there subscribers
here who use diagrams in their classes? I would be happy to hear from anyone
so interested. Thanks.