Hamilton the Musical- Assessment Questions for Music Class and Social Studies Class

My students loved Hamilton the Musical from the moment it came out on Broadway in 2015.

When that happens, I always work to take the energy and excitement and turn it into learning, and in my case since I was in the chorus classroom, passionate singing, and in the case of Hamilton the Musical, rapping that comes from the heart and is performed with conviction.

Hamilton the Musical is a valuable tool for teaching about and discussing American history, and it is appropriate for upper middle school and high school students to see.  Students who are in chorus class will take it to the next level while learning about history.  Most students from 5th grade up absolutely love the music from this show.

This was a passion project for the creator of this show, Lin Manuel Miranda, because of his own background, and it followed his amazing show called "In the Heights" earlier in his career.

Lin Manuel's parents came here from Puerto Rico.  

He was born in 1980 in NYC.  

He has an understanding of America and all of the opportunity that comes from the realness of what America really is and always was supposed to be all about- People from all over the world coming to the melting pot and achieving the America Dream.

Many of us who've lived here for a long time have lost touch with that.  

He has not, and it is reflected in his work on both "In the Heights" and "Hamilton".

I highly recommend that you watch Hamilton with your students on Disney Plus, where it is currently available exclusively as of this writing (2/27/2024).

Discuss the events of the musical.  Create new projects around it to spur more interest.  If you are a chorus teacher, by all means, sing songs from the show.  The music in this show appeals very strongly to students from upper elementary through high school and beyond.  

I created some assessment questions that you can use once students have finished watching the show.

It includes the answer key.

Click here.

I hope it helps you in your classroom!