School Concert Evaluations by Grade

5/10/2024

After a big school performance, it's important to celebrate by having a music fun day, watching a music related movie, or doing their favorite activity, like boomwhackers. But this is also a great opportunity to reflect on what they did personally and as a class and tie it into the musical topics you've been learning. A post-concert evaluation will help give your students the words to express themselves. If the concert went bad, what exactly happened? How can we learn from it and do better next time? If the concert went well, what did they do that made it so great? How can the class improve for next time?

Kindergarten Concert Assessments

An evaluation for kindergarteners could be as simple as asking two questions:

1. Raise your hand and tell me what did you like about the concert?
2. What do you think could have been better?

Most of the time, little hands will shoot up into the air to eagerly tell you what they loved. They may have loved everything. This is a good opportunity to focus them in on some basic music vocabulary words they can use to express themselves. Did they love the dancing, the blended voices, the forte sound?

1st through 5th Grade Concert Evaluations

Singing

Singers can evaluate if they were in-tune, if they shouted, or if they used correct singing technique. They can take a moment to reflect on their own singing and then also reflect on the group as a whole. Just make sure they don't point out someone particular and make that student feel bad.

Memorization

Memorization is an important part of a vocal musical performance. Younger students may feel like they knew all of the words when really some words were mumbled and some lines were missed. For K-1st grade, I recommend using a positive reinforcement activity to work on lyrics. Play a singing game where each student sings one line of the song. If they can sing the entire song without one line going missing as a class, you can reward the class with a sticker. By the time students get to second grade, they are familiar with written evaluations. You can download my free evaluation to use for your class located below or make one of your own. Did students have all the lyrics and movements memorized? Were they relying on other students or the teacher to help them through the song?

Musical Expression

A great concert is also a musically expressive one. This is a good opportunity to remember all the concepts you've been teaching and evaluate if they and the class as a whole did those things. Was there dynamic? Was the rhythm together? What could have been better?

Ensemble

It's a good idea to highlight what makes a group sound good. Blending is an important part of a vocal performance's sound. Were all the lyric vowels open and resonating? Were the consonants crisp and everyone could understand the words? Was the sound of the group blended or were a few people sticking out?

Middle and High School Post-Concert Evaluations

Upper school students may feel shy when it comes to evaluating themselves. This is a great time to let them write out their evaluation on a worksheet. (I have a link to a free one below.) Have students list three things they did well and three they could improve upon. Then, flip the page and list three things the group did well and three things the group could improve upon. After students have written their evaluations, ask students to raise their hands if they would like to share and have a discussion together.

I hope these post-concert tips help for a great performance assessment. Remember to keep the class moving in a positive direction. As a music teacher, giving the joy of music to students is the most important thing and it should always come across in the way we speak. Help them feel proud of their accomplishments by giving them the words to express themselves and remember to celebrate.