In 1985, the National Council of Teachers of English declared that "repetitive grammar drills and exercises" — like diagramming sentences — are "a deterrent to the improvement of students' speaking ...

Once a popular way to teach grammar, the practice of diagramming sentences has fallen out of favor.

If you weren't taught to diagram a sentence, this might sound a little zany. But the practice has a long -- and controversial -- history in U.S. schools.

Sentence diagramming is the long division of English. It involves a bewildering array of lines and diagonal branches. It is loathed as an elementary school chore. And it is presumed to be obsolete.… ...

Once a popular way to teach grammar, the practice of diagramming sentences has fallen out of favor.

Objectively untrue! Formal grammar lessons, complete with sentence-diagramming exercises, survived in public schools through the end of the 1980s, at least.