If you’re an elementary music teacher, one part of your job is putting on elementary music programs or performances. This may look like a program, an informance, a play, or a musical. Whatever type of performance you choose, putting on a successful performance is what matters most. If you’ve been wanting to find out more about how to put on an elementary music performance, these 5 tips have worked for me.
1. Plan it Out
The summer is the perfect opportunity to plan out your elementary music programs for the next school year.
First, think about what themes you want to center your programs around. Then, think about what materials and resources you already have available to you and pull songs from them. Finally, look around and find programs that go along with that theme. Music K-8 is one of my all time favorite go to websites for purchasing programs.
After picking the themes, decide if you’re going to do one program per grade or combine certain grade levels. Then, meet up with your principal and put it on the calendar.
2. Practice Makes Almost Perfect
When beginning to practice for the performance you’re working on, start teaching the music 2-3 months ahead of time. Depending on how often you see your students and how often there will be interruptions will determine how soon you should begin.
Start by teaching the students the songs, then layer in harmony parts, speaking parts, and any instruments or movement.
During your class time, spend no more than half of the class period working on the program. You’ll begin to notice the students getting antsy and losing focus. After working on the program, the rest of the class time can be spent on instruments, playing a music game, or doing a folk dance.
3. Communication is Key
Like I mentioned earlier, get all performances for the school year on the calendar as soon as possible. This way, you can let parents, the other teachers, and the students know when their dress rehearsal and performance will be. Letting everyone know way ahead of time will also help parents schedule around any conflicts that may arise before hand.
Along with communicating about the dates of the performances, communicating with the teachers about when dress rehearsals are is key also. You will need their help as much as possible. Sometimes getting the classroom teachers to help is easier said than done. But, if you give them enough time and they’re able to organize everything on their calendars, this helps a lot.
While we’re on the subject of communicating, don’t forget to communicate any and all expectations you have with your students. This goes right along with your expectations and classroom management strategy (which you can read more about here.)
4. Add in the Extra Stuff
After the music is learned, then practice getting on and off the risers, concert etiquette, and any other logistical things the students need to be aware of. You really can’t go over too much with your students.
Make sure they know what to do when they’re holding an instrument, what to do with their hands when they’re standing still, what to do if they’re in the audience, and how full participation is expected from them.
A lot of times, teachers just focus on learning the music in their elementary music programs, yet forget how important all of the other “stuff’ is when it comes to putting on a successful elementary music performance.
5. Put on the Performance
You’ve put the work in getting your students prepared and ready and now it’s performance day. You worked so hard, so enjoy this moment. The performance will go great, and even if you have a few things not go according to plan, the hard work you put in to getting the students ready will pay off.
After the performance, the next class period can be spent talking about what went right and what could be improved upon. Students should learn how to evaluate a musical performance when it’s over, and this is a great opportunity to do this. You could even hand each child a survey or a self evaluation so they’re able to really think through everything.
What are tips you have for putting on programs? I’d love to hear all about it in the comments below or share your thoughts on social media as you share this post.
Also, I’d love for you to share this post or any of the resources on my website with a friend or colleague who you know NEEDS to see it.
P.S. Are you feeling frustrated or stuck as an elementary music teacher? Check out these free resources to help you teach elementary music with confidence!
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