Lesson Plan for What Makes You Beautiful

Content and Achievement Standards

Singing, alone and with others, a varied repertoire of music.

o d. Sing music written in two and three parts
Listening to, analyzing, and describing music.
o Describe specific musical events in a given example using
appropriate terminology

Class Goals and Objectives

Build upon students knowledge of ostinati patterns

Enable students to aurally identify and perform rhythmic,
melodic, and harmonic ostinati
Give students the opportunity to create their own ostinati
patterns

Materials

A recording of the song What Makes You Beautiful by One

Direction
Lyric dictation sheet for What Makes You Beautiful

Procedures
1. Teacher will ask students about the best compliment they have
ever received or given someone, and why it meant so much.
PROMPT: As you listen to the song and fill out your lyric dictation
sheet, see if you can figure out what the main compliment is in
this song.
2. Students will listen to What Makes You Beautiful and fill out
their lyric dictation sheet, listening for the specific compliment
being sung about. The teacher will walk around the classroom as
the students work, making sure that they are staying on task,
and singing along with the recording to give students a vocal
model and help them understand the words.
3. Students will identify the compliment being sung about, and
review the correct lyrics. The teacher will sing back each line of
the lyrics as the students answer to provide a vocal model for the
students.
4. Once the class has reviewed all of the lyrics, they will keep a
steady beat and be invited to sing along with the recording. As

Lesson Plan for What Makes You Beautiful

the students sing, the teacher will model a rhythmic ostinato. (I
am going to play it again, and I want you to listen to what I am
doing while you sing along.)
QUESTION: Can you tell me what I was doing while we sang
along with the song? Can someone demonstrate the pattern that
I was clapping?
PROMPT: We are going to listen to the song again, and I want you
to clap the rhythmic pattern that I just clapped, and be listening
for what I am going to do differently.
5. Students will listen to the recording of What Makes You
Beautiful and clap the rhythmic pattern. While the students
clap, the teacher will model the melodic ostinato.
QUESTION: Did the rhythmic pattern that you were clapping
seem to fit with the entire song? What was I doing while you
were clapping the rhythmic pattern? Can someone sing the
melody that I was singing? Where did I get that melody from?
6. Students will sing the melodic ostinato together with the teacher
on the neutral syllable na.
PROMPT: We are going to listen to the song from where we left
off, and I want you to sing the melody that we just sang together
and see if it fits with the entire song. If students are disengaged,
the teacher will have them go back to clapping the rhythmic
ostinato previously learned. (Im going to do something different
while you sing, so I want you to pay attention to what I am
doing.)
7. Students will listen to the song and sing the melodic ostinato.
The teacher will model a harmonic ostinato while they sing.
QUESTION: Did the melody you were singing seem to fit with the
song? What was I doing while you were singing the melody? Can
someone sing the harmony that I was just singing?
8. Students will sing the harmonic ostinato on solfege syllables (do,
fa, sol) with the teacher.
PROMPT: As we listen to part of the song again, I want you to
sing the harmony that we just sang together and see if it fits with
the entire song. If students appear disengaged, ask them to sing
the melodic ostinato or clap the rhythmic ostinato previously
learned.

Lesson Plan for What Makes You Beautiful

9. Students will listen to What Makes You Beautiful and sing the
harmonic ostinato that the class sang together. The teacher will
sing with the students and model hand signs for the solfege.
QUESTION: Did the harmony we were singing seem to fit with the
whole song?
PROMPT: This next time, I want to see if we can put our rhythmic,
melodic, and harmonic patterns together as we perform the
song, so I need volunteers for each part!
10.
Students will listen to What Makes You Beautiful and
perform whichever ostinati pattern they choose. The instructor
will sing the melody of the song, or help out on any part that is
lacking.
QUESTION: Did each of the patterns fit with the entire song?
11.
Students and teacher will discuss the concept of ostinato
and relate it to the performance experiences that they had with
the song.
QUESTION: For each pattern (rhythmic, melodic, harmonic) did
they ever change?
12.
Teacher will divide students into small groups and give
them the chance to make up their own rhythmic ostinato to go
along with What Makes You Beautiful.
13.
The groups would take turns performing their ostinati for
the class, performing along with the recording.
14.
Students and teacher will end the class with a final
performance of What Makes You Beautiful, with the students
choosing either one of the three different ostinati learned in
class, or one of the ostinati created by the class, to perform with
the recording. The teacher would ultimately turn the volume
down to let the class hear how all of the ostinati work together to
create a song, even without the recording.
Assessment of Goals and Objectives
Assessment of students knowledge regarding ostinati will be informal
and achieved by their explanations of their different performances,
answering teacher questions, and by their ability to create their own

Lesson Plan for What Makes You Beautiful

rhythmic ostinati. Singing and clapping in rhythm skills will be
evaluated throughout the lesson as students perform different ostinati
patterns.
Follow up Lesson
Following this lesson, the teacher will continue to provide the students
with different examples of songs, both popular and classical, that
include rhythmic, melodic, and harmonic ostinati. The students will
have opportunities to listen, perform, and create.