Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1

Schedule: This is a 1-hour class.

Format: Lecture with some class participation. No grading; homework is optional.

Cost: $20 per person for a group class of 4 or more students; $70 for one-on-one tutoring.

Payment options: Payments can be made via PayPal, Venmo, Zelle, cash, or check.

Materials: Pencil and paper.

For more details or to schedule a class, contact Michael by phone at 281-770-2276 or by email at michaelgold@goldams.com.

Class Description.

Sentence diagramming helps us master sentence construction, which helps us write better, read better, and think better. In tutoring many high school students (even junior and senior level — and college level), I find that most students cannot pick out the noun and verb in a sentence, never mind say what an adjective or adverb is. They can “get” a sentence, but they lack conceptual understanding of it.

Just as builders need to know the nature of their tools — hammer, saw, screwdriver, wrench, etc. — and how they work, so also we who communicate and think need to know what our tools of communication and thought are and how they work.

Hence, in this class — through lecture, interactive discussion, and interactive work — we will identify and define the parts of speech noun, verb (only intransitive action verbs and passive transitive verbs in this class), adjective, adverb, and preposition (and prepositional phrase) and we will learn how to diagram sentences containing them.

In Lesson 1, we’ll get only an introduction to identifying prepositional phrases as adjectives or adverbs. We focus on them in Lesson 1.25. (https://outschool.com/classes/sentence-diagramming-lesson-125-cXaFLNXE#us4YUmySbt)

Come prepared to listen, take notes, answer some questions, ask some questions, do some work, and start to make a life-long habit of clear communication, writing, and thinking. We will lay down the basic foundation for sentence diagramming; we will start the journey to better thinking and better living through better grammar.

Learning Goals.
To recognize some parts of speech: noun, verb, adjective, adverb, preposition.
To diagram simple sentences of subject and verb only.
To diagram sentences containing subject, verb, adjectives, adverbs, and prepositional phrases.
To learn a bit about definitions and concepts.
To learn how definitions, examples, and questions help us think better and more efficiently.

“My daughter’s learning experience with Mr. Gold was excellent. The class was very interactive and informative. There were class note summaries and practices provided by Mr. Gold after each class. To learn about the techniques of sentence diagramming would help kids better read and write. My daughter benefited a lot from this class. Highly recommended.”
–Li S., parent, about Outschool class “Sentence Diagramming Grammar Class, Session 1,” 16 Dec 2020

“This was a great introduction to sentence diagramming for my son. Mr Gold provided a lot of great resources as follow up to this class. Very helpful!”
–Jenni C., parent, about Outschool class “Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1,” 17 Aug 2020

“My son (14) took two pages of notes and seemed to learn grammar faster in the session than I could have possibly taught him myself! Probably because it’s easier to listen to someone (anyone, really) who isn’t your parent. Mr. Gold was engaging and informative, and sent not only one follow-up email (a TY to attendees, with some encouragement and advice) but two follow-up emails (the second had two pages of additional work students could do to practice diagramming sentences). I’d say anyone could benefit from this class; I know my son did because I’ve seen little in his notebooks/binders over the years from school covering grammar/parts of speech, with the exception of Spanish class.”
–Amy H., parent, about Outschool class “Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1,” 24 Jul 2020

“My son has nothing but good things to say about this class. He learned a lot!”
–Laura B., parent, about Outschool class “Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 1,” 21 Jun 2020

“My son really enjoys this class. He has taken Diagramming 1-3 so far, and he wants to keep going! The teacher takes the full hour and makes the examples challenging enough to keep the kids on their toes while still learning. He also gave follow up notes and practice sentences for my son to continue working on, even when class was done. Amazing!”
–Sue M., parent, about Outschool class “Sentence Diagramming: Lesson 3,” 23 Apr 2020