Frustration

So it's settled: next week I will take over the two
morning classes. And I will be teaching grammar. The
parts of the sentence. As diagramming and all that.
Ew. I completely understand the necessity of grammar,
but the way I sort of have to do it is completely out
of context. That's the way they have already started
it (they're doing parts of speech now); it's
completely unrelated to any meaningful text or
situations.

I mean, crap, do the kids already KNOW any of this? Is
there part of this they could skip? Parts they need
MORE help in? Rote memorization of grammar skills and
concepts is just NOT the best practice and yet people
persist in doing it.

I'll do my best to bring in literature, authentic
texts, or even write short paragraphs of their own,
but this sucks.