The ability to untangle subordinate clauses may be the most important thing that most students need from a formal study of grammar. Once they can do so, and once they understand the idea of chunking, they can understand almost all the “errors” that are typically worried about -- comma-splices, run-ons, and fragments are all clause boundary errors. But beyond errors, the ability to identify and discuss clauses will enable students to explore major areas of logic and style. These are, I would suggest, more important than the primary KISS objective -- the ability to explain every word in every text. 
     Yes, students will know and do more, if they can identify the types of verbals (gerunds, gerundives, and infinitives), appositives, and noun absolutes, but an understanding of those constructions will not help students much if they cannot untangle the clauses in any sentence. This section explains the most frequently used types of clauses -- those that function as simple nouns, adjectives, and adverbs. More complicated (and less frequent) clauses are introduced in KISS Level 3.2.
     The exercises at this level (3.1.2) consist almost entirely of "Level-One" clauses -- generally one subordinate clause within a main clause. Clauses are, however, frequently embedded within clauses, as in:

Many students are amazed to learn that there can be clauses within clauses. KISS Level 3.1.3 focuses on untangling embedded clauses.

     The question here is how and how quickly does one introduce students to the kinds and embedding of clauses. The question implies a continuum, not an “either/or” distinction. In essence, it is a question of learning curves -- gradual or steep. I myself prefer the steep curve because it requires students to learn and apply an analytical procedure that they will need anyway (to untangle sentences that include multiple subordinate clauses). Ultimately, it is also faster. The other primary advantage of the steep curve approach is that it forces students to think, right from the beginning. The exercises in this level are organized to address both learning curves.

The Steep Curve Approach

     In the steepest of the steep-curve approaches, students are introduced to clauses, main and subordinate and embedding, all at the same time. They are given the instructional material and told to follow the analytical procedure:

Identify prepositional phrases, and then S/V/C patterns. For every S/V/C pattern, there is a clause. Check for conjunctions and compounding. Check for subordinating conjunctions, and then, if all the clauses are not explained, begin with the last S/V/C pattern and work your way backward. Find the first and last words in the clause, and determine how the clause functions—noun, adjective, or adverb.

As the figure notes, "Only 6.4% of the 17-year-olds could solve multi-step problems like this one."
     Perhaps the most fundamental weakness in most education is the focus on “knowing what” rather than on “knowing how” to solve multi-step problems. Math teachers, for example, regularly struggle, trying to get the students to follow the procedures (steps) for solving problems. At the college level, the problems are more wide-spread. Particularly in the technical areas, professors complain that students seem to think that either one knows the answer or one does not. Many students refuse to learn the steps (the “how”) to solve problems. But in the technological world in which we live, all the important problems require multi-step processes for their solution.
     Most grammar books, of course, teach “what,” not “how.” But if you have been working with the KISS Approach, you have already seen one procedure — the steps for determining complements. The procedure for distinguishing the types of clauses simply builds upon that one, but I cannot overly emphasize its importance. The KISS Approach, in other words, not only helps students to learn how to identify clauses fairly easily and quickly -- it also helps students understand the importance of multi-step thinking.
     To use the steep leaning curve,  have your students use the analytical procedure and do the exercises in the first section, "Mixed Subordinate Clauses." If they can do them, you can skip the exercises that focus just on noun clauses as direct objects, on adverbial clauses, and those on adjectival clauses. (You may, however, want to have them do some of the combining and logic exercises in those sections.) 

The Gradual Curve

     If the steep curve seems to be too steep, start with the sections on the various types of clauses. In them, students are first  introduced to noun clauses that function as direct objects. The reasons for this are simple: 1.) subordinate clauses that function as direct objects are very common, and 2.) these students have already been taught to look for and identify the complements of verbs. In a sentence such as “We asked if we could go to the park,” students are going to look for the complement of “asked” by asking “Asked what? They can meaningfully see that the answer to that question is “if we could go to the park.” Having studied compound man clauses, and thus having a sense of what a “clause” is, they can understand that “if we could go to the park” is a clause and that it functions as the direct object of “asked.” This approach, therefore, should clarify rather than confuse them.
    The next section focuses on adverbial clauses (because the conjunctions are relatively easy to identify), and the next is  on adjectival clauses. KISS instructional materials include a “special focus” on what are called “mid-branching” adjectival clauses simply because some students are confused by them. “Mid-branching” means that the subordinate clause appears between the subject and verb of the main clause. (“Left-branching” appear before the main clause, and “right branching” appear after.) “Branching” raises some interesting stylistic questions, but the point here is that in a sentence such as “The man who stole Sunday was a magician,” many students will look at “stole” and see “man” as its subject. They are not accustomed to seeing an S/V/C pattern between a subject and its verb. Thus KISS has a few exercises to help them -- if they need them. Students are then introduced to the less frequently used other noun clauses -- objects of prepositions, subjects, and predicate nouns.
    If you are using this approach, you can then go back to the "Mixed" section as a general "bringing it all together."

Suggested Directions for Analytical Exercises
1. Place parentheses ( ) around each prepositional phrase.
2. Underline verbs twice, their subjects once, and label complements (“PA,” “PN,” “IO,” or “DO”).
3. Place brackets [ ] around each subordinate clause. If the clause functions as a noun, label its function. If it functions as an adjective or adverb, draw an arrow from the opening bracket to the word that the clause modifies.
4. Place a vertical line after each main clause. 

Probable Time Required: See the Introduction.
 

Exercises in Level 3.1.2

Mixed Level One Clauses      The sentences in these exercises all contain more than one type of clause. As a result, students will have to do more thinking as they do these exercises.

The Functions of Subordinate Clauses

Identifying Clauses - The Procedure

     This is, perhaps, a minor point, but at least one "grammarinan" (I believe it was on the ATEG list.) claimed that subordinating conjunctions do not have a function within their clauses. That is true of some of the adverbial conjunctions ("because," "since," "so"), but it is definitely not true of conjunctions like "who," "whom," "whose," "which," and "that."

     Consider, for example, the sentences:

1. That is the girl who won the game.
2. She is the woman whom I met yesterday.
3. That is the person whom I was thinking of.
4. That is the book that they were talking about.
5. It is a problem about which much has been written.