Finding a non-horrible way to teach grammar

Testing time is rolling around again.  Both Bee and Bug will be taking the Iowa Test of Basic Skills at the end of the month, and testing time reminds me to cover things that I might need to be spending more time on. 

One of those things is English grammar.  As a first grader, Bug knows a little bit about punctuation at the end of a sentence and some very basic capitalization.  In my opinion, that is plenty for a 7-year-old.  Bee, on the other hand, is in the 5th grade, and is expected to know quite a bit more. 

I got a book to review grammar with him (Spectrum Language Arts, Grade 5), and I decided to day that I despise it.  It has errors, and the writers do not appear to understand what a clause or a complex sentence is.  So, we won't be using that.  I found some daily paragraph editing to try, and we're going to edit a few paragraphs a day until the test. 

I thought back on the way I learned grammar.  At my private school, we used a textbook, diagrammed sentences, and learned a lot of terminology.  We did a lot of exercises.  I found it extremely easy, probably because I was a voracious reader and have a love of the way that language works.  I also think that taking Latin was helpful.  Some of my classmates did fine with this approach, and others never seemed to get it at all.  I was probably the only person in my class who had what could be called a passion for grammar. 

I thought about seeking out a textbook to use with Bee, but, honestly, the thought of getting a grammar textbook and doing daily grammar exercises with Bee does not sound appealing.  He might die of boredom.  I also keep reading that students who study grammar using a traditional approach don't, on the average, end up any better at it than those who do not study it at all.  I'm not sure I completely believe this, but my experience as a peer tutor in our college writing center taught me that a large number of people, even those from good high schools and colleges, have very low level grammar skills.  

So, I am using a Daily Paragraph Editing book by Evan Moore (out of print but available on Amazon).  Bee and I started today, and we're going to do a few paragraphs a day together until test time.  Next year, I may make fit it into our weekly routine and get an age-appropriate book for Bug as well.  It seems a little more organic, somehow, fixing someone else's paragraphs, than just doing exercises.  Bee seems to be catching on fast, and I think he likes marking other people's errors.  (I know I do!)