‘SPAG’ DRAMA
- a few practical activities to get you started
WARM UP (ICE BREAKER)
Walk around the room:
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Eyes down; choose pathways; don’t speak or look up.
Eyes down; choose pathways; glance up quickly, make brief eye contact, look away.
Eyes up; choose pathways; stare people out.
Eyes up; choose pathways; shake hands and greet people in a friendly manner.
WALK OF LIFE
 ADVERBS – walk around the room – confidently, nervously, deliberately, unsteadily,
happily, grumpily, etc.
 VERBS – trudge, storm, shuffle, scurry, limp, stomp, saunter, edge, stagger etc. (children
could shout out suggestions)
Talk about body language , how could we include this information in our sentences? Eg.
He stormed down the road, fists clenched, eyes fixed firmly on the pavement ahead of
him. Could use this to teach inference – describe the movement without the word.
Could also use to teach synonyms and antonyms:
SYNONYMS – stroll - wander, saunter, amble – discuss subtlety of meaning
ANTONYMS – stroll – bustle, hurry, dash, storm
 SIMILES – walk as if you had the weight of the world on your shoulders/ like a
chimpanzee/ as if you own the place.
 METAPHORS – walk with the weight of the world on your shoulders.
Could be done as a sitting exercise – sit nervously, etc, or could walk across a circle one
at a time.
VISUAL VERBS
Act out some verbs – trying them on for size! For example:
 look – glance, stare, peep, gaze, glare, peer, squint
 eat – nibble, gobble, chew, munch, savour
 say – “I’m not going.” – mutter, shout, whisper, snarl, snap, apologise
IN THE MANNER OF THE WORD class/ group
ADVERBS
 One child leaves the room and the class decide on an adverb eg. happily, suspiciously,
nervously, aggressively.
 Child comes back in and asks one of the class to perform an everyday task ‘in the
manner of the word’. Eg. do the ironing, polish the furniture, drink a cup of tea.
 Repeat this by asking two other children to perform two more tasks.
 Then the child must guess the adverb.
©Stephanie Austwick
THE MINISTER’S CAT class/group
ADJECTIVES
 Children take it in turns to describe the minister’s cat – in alphabetical order.
 Eg. The Minister’s cat is called Arthur and he is an aggressive cat.
The Minister’s cat is called Berty and he is a boisterous cat.
The Minister’s cat is called Claire and she is a clumsy cat - and so on.
BODY BUILDING
NOUNS
Gather children into larger groups – 6-8ish
Give them 3 minutes to create the noun using their bodies, eg:
 A sofa
 A Christmas tree
 A bicycle
 An elephant
After each one, ask them to freeze. Look around at other groups.
If exploring adjectives - after the freeze, ask them to modify their shape - add an adjective
–a saggy sofa, a tired elephant!
Or – ad an adjectival phrase – A sofa which has seen better days!
FIRST LINES pairs
DIALOGUE/SPEECH
Always model first.
Always start with familiar situations.
Give three rules – Imagine you are in a hoop and can’t walk around.
No physical contact.
Stop speaking/ sit down when I raise my hand.
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Give the opening line of a conversation.
Children turn to their partner and begin by repeating the first line.
They continue the conversation, without movement, until you shout ‘cut’.
Then hear some of these improvisations.
Eg. Could you lend me five pounds?
Have you been in my room?
I don’t want to go to Auntie Barbara’s!
I’m sorry, but I don’t believe you!
You could take a cross curricular theme eg. characters from a history project –
An evacuee – ‘ Why have I got to go away?
A Victorian child – ‘Please sir, I don’t like the dark.’
You could take characters/scenes from a class story- ‘There’s no such place as Narnia!’
Or PSHE themes – I can’t believe you’re smoking!
Children could write the conversation as a narrative, a play script or reported speech.
©Stephanie Austwick