These warm-ups are personalised to The Tempest, but can be adapted to other purposes too: they only require 5 – 10 minutes, and help to focus the class, promote behaviour for learning, and warm up voices, minds, and bodies ready for speaking, listening, movement, collaborative and creative work.
3 Position of Drama (5 mins)
4 Vocal Warm-up: Vowels and Consonants (5 mins)
5 Vocal Warm-Up: Key Quotes (5 mins)
6 Archetypes (5 mins)
7 Group Speeds (5 – 10 mins)
8 Stop/Go (5 – 10 mins)
9 See It/Be It (10 mins)
This activity is to be delivered after ‘Meet the Characters’ on page 10 of the Classroom Pack.
TIME: 5 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: All
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: To focus mind and body for active 3D learning activities
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Assume a ‘neutral’ position ready for core learning activities
- Follow clear instructions and are now ready to follow core learning instructions
METHOD: Invite pupils to stand in a circle.
Ask pupils to start the activity with their feet together.
To the count of 8:
1) Ask them to separate toes,
2) Aeparate heels into feet hip-width apart
3) Shrug shoulders to ears,
4) Let them drop
5) Deep breath in
6) Deep breath out
7) Pull an invisible rope from the top of their heads to the ceiling until they are taller
8) Bring their hand to their side
They are now standing in a position of drama and are ready to enter the next phase of the planned learning.
TIME: 5 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: English, Cross-Curricular Speaking and Listening
LEARNING OBJECTIVE: To develop mouth muscles for articulation, pronunciation and clarity of speech
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Use all parts of their mouths to pronounce sounds they are given
- Explore methods of delivering sounds
METHOD: Invite pupils to stand in a circle.
Form the ‘position of drama’ (see previous warm-up).
Explain that there is an invisible bubble in the centre of the circle that you’re going to try to move, using the sounds you make.
Ask them to repeat after you and make a clear ‘p’ sound (the letter sound rather than the name, i.e pronounced “pa” rather than “pee”).
They will repeat the sound collectively.
Now say “t” and ask them to repeat after you.
Finally, say “k” and allow time for them to repeat.
Explain that the bubble hasn’t moved!
Ask them to place a hand on their diaphragm: they should feel that area tense as they make the sound. Repeat all sounds again, noticing the difference in the clarity of the sounds they make.
The bubble moved – they did it!
Now the bubble needs to be popped using the sounds you will make.
All should keep their hands on their diaphragm and make sure to feel it tense if they are to achieve this task.
Ask them to repeat after you and forcefully say ‘b’ (the letter sound rather than the name, i.e. pronounced “ba” rather than “be”).
They will repeat the sound collectively.
Now say ‘d’ in the same way and allow them to repeat after you.
Now ‘g’, and invite them to repeat again.
Ask them to place a hand on their diaphragm: they should feel that area tense as they make the sound.
Repeat all the sounds again, noticing the difference in the clarity of the sounds they make.
They have popped the bubble!
TIME: 5 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: English, Cross-Curricular Speaking and Listening
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- To develop mouth muscles for articulation, pronunciation and clarity of speech
- To increase inflection, intonation and animation when speaking
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Use all parts of their mouths to pronounce phrases they are given
- Explore methods of delivering memorable phrases
- Speak lines of speech from the narrative of topic you are exploring
METHOD: Invite pupils to stand in a circle.
Form the ‘position of drama’ (see first warm up).
Carry out vowels and consonants warm-up as a lead-in activity (see previous warm up).
Explain you will give them a line of dialogue, and you would like them to repeat the line using the most flat, dull, boring voice they can.
Feed the line: “Prithee peace!” using your flattest voice and allow them to repeat it.
Now ask them to imagine that the words are bubbles that need to be ‘popped’ as they are spoken.
Repeat the line, placing emphasis on each syllable as if you are popping them with your delivery. They should repeat.
Move on to your next line and repeat the technique.
Line options: “Is there more toil?”
“I must needs my dinner!”
“Hag seed hence!”
“Fetch us in fuel!”
“He receives comfort like cold porridge”
“O brave new world”
“Thou liest!”
EXTENSION: Continue with each line of dialogue, asking them to:
- ‘Flick’ the syllables as if they are trying to flick something sticky from their finger tips
- ‘Squeeze’ the syllables as they would a wet cloth
- ‘Stroke’ the syllables as they would their favourite animal
- ‘Hiss’ the syllables as a snake might
- ‘Stretch’ the syllables as if each is an elastic band.
TIME: 5 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: Drama, English, Speaking and Listening, PSHE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES:
- To develop understanding of character types embedded in all literature
- To recognise key characteristics and character traits of all fictional characters
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Adapt their bodies and voices to embody archetypal characters
- Understand the spectrum of character types found in literature and in history
- Recognise archetypal characters in the core text they are exploring
METHOD: Invite pupils to stand in a circle.
Form the ‘position of drama’ (see previous warm up)
Explain that all stories have specific character types – we can find them in all stories, particularly in Shakespeare’s stories.
You would like the pupils to help you bring them into the room.
Introduce the first character: ‘The Hero’.
Ask the class to think about how a hero might stand and ask them to form their ‘hero’ posture.
Now ask them to think of an action that a hero might make.
Take suggestions and select one
Now tell the class they are going to bring their heroes into the circle. They will carry out the action and repeat your words using their most heroic voice.
Perform the action and say “a hero” using your most heroic voice.
All pupils should copy.
Repeat for: - The Ruler/Leader/King (depending on the text you are studying)
- The Innocent
- The Villain/Trickster
- The Joker
- The Fool
- The Wise Man
- The Fantastical/Spirit
Notes: If you’re carrying out this activity after exploring the text, you can link them to each character you have discovered together.
EXTENSION: You can revisit this during ‘Stop/Go’, inviting pupils to “take the archetypes for a walk” by calling out “Stop”, then the archetype’s name, then “Go”.
TIME: 5 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: Drama, English, Speaking and Listening, PSHE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: - To work as a collective, moving as one
- To break class social divides, becoming one collective
- To heighten awareness of each other and how we work with others
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Explore all areas of their creative space, understanding their role as part of a collective
- Work collectively, following clear instructions
- Heighten listening skills and group awareness promoting behaviour for learning for future learning activities
METHOD: Invite pupils to stand in a circle.
Form the ‘position of drama’.
Show pupils your ‘invisible remote control’ and explain that it can control the speed at which they walk.
Establish that a group speed of ‘0’ is when we are standing completely still, and that ‘10’ is the speed you would use if fast walking to catch a bus.
Explain that they have been set to a group speed of ‘0’ until this point, so without instruction they have already managed to create a shared group speed!
Tell them that, when you say “Go”, you’re going to change their speed: they should all move around the room at the group speed you are about to give them (a good speed to start with is 3).
Say “Go”.
Invite participants to read the speed of the room: if they think they are going too fast, they probably are, and if they think they are too slow… they probably are! Ask them to adjust their speed to match the speed of everyone else.
To adjust the social dynamic and ensure all pupils have blended into a creative collective tell them: if they keep seeing the same faces, they should change direction; if they feel like they are too close to other people they should change direction - they are special and deserve their own space; they should try to move through any spaces they can see to ensure the room is balance.
Spend a few moments calling out different numbers between 0 - 10, inviting pupils to adapt their speeds accordingly.
EXTENSION: Layer this activity with ‘Prospero says’. When pupils stop, call out an instruction that Prospero might have given to Caliban or Ariel i.e. ‘Fetch us in fuel/collect wood’
TIME: 5-10 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: Drama, English, Speaking and Listening, PSHE
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: - To heighten listening skills in all pupils
- To increase response to instructions
- To heighten awareness of each other and how they work with others
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Explore all areas of their creative space, understanding their role as part of a collective
- Work collectively, following clear instructions
- Heighten listening skills and group awareness promoting behaviour for learning for future learning activities
METHOD: Using group speeds, pupils should move around the room, filling all spaces and changing direction if they see a face they’ve just seen.
Call ‘Stop’. All should stop as if frozen, or as if they are in your video game and you’ve just pressed ‘Pause’.
Call ‘Go’. Pupils should instantly move again as if you’ve pressed play. Repeat this a few times.
Now tell pupils that ‘Stop’ means go and ‘Go’ means stop!
Call ‘Go’ and see what happens!
Explore calling out the two actions and enjoy the environment it creates!
EXTENSION: You can extend this activity by layering with clap/jump and reversing the actions required as with stop/go
TIME: 10 minutes
RESOURCES: A cleared space in your classroom or hall
SUBJECT AREA: English, Speaking and Listening, PSHE, PE/Movement
LEARNING OBJECTIVES: - To work creatively and physically to create objects/locations from a narrative
- To work collaboratively to achieve a shared outcome
LEARNING OUTCOMES: By the end of the activity, pupils may be able to:
- Work creatively, moving and working together
- Work collectively, exploring ways of working in pairs and larger groups
- Create a shared vision without using speech
METHOD: As your pupils move around the hall at a group speed you have stated, call ‘Stop’.
Ask them to form groups of 5 or 6.
Explain that, as you can’t visit the island or bring locations or large objects from the text, you need the pupils’ help in recreating them – to bring the story to life in your creative space.
They are going to work collectively and without talking to create the locations and objects from the text that you’re about to call out. They will only have 10 seconds to do it!
Call out: ‘Caliban’s cave’.
Count slowly down from 10 to 0 and call ‘freeze’ at 0.
Spotlight one or two successes and ask the rest of the pupils to reflect on why the outcome(s) is successful – focus on teamwork, body positioning, levels, additional details that make the finished piece so effective.
Repeat other locations/objects like:
King Alonso’s ship Prospero’s home
The beach the ship wreckers arrive on Now ask them to move around the hall again at the group speed you give them. Call ‘Stop’ and ask them to get into groups of around 10.
Ask them to form Prospero’s Island as you count down from 10 On ‘0’, call ‘Freeze’.
Ask them to think of the sounds they might hear on the island (birds, waves crashing, wind in trees, animals, Prospero giving orders, etc) and invite them to add these into their island scene.
Give them 10 seconds to practice and then freeze them all.
Tell them they must come to life as you walk around their island and move through each island scene.