Submitted by Sarah Kjorlien, Arizona
Idea posted May 17, 2013
I always struggled with the idea of dotted notes. Since the length of the dot is always changing, it can be a tricky concept. Then, I decided to talk about the dot separately from the note it's with, and this story came to my mind:
Once upon a time, there was a cute little fellow named Dot. Dot always wanted to grow up to be big and strong like his older siblings. So, he decided if he hung out with them more, he would grow bigger, too.
First, he hung out with his big brother quarter note. In 4/4 time, how many beats does a quarter note get? (One beat) But no matter how hard he tried, Dot could only be half as big. So how big is Dot now? (Half a beat) And how many beats are they together? (One and a half beats)
Well, that was a good start, but he still felt quite small. So Dot decided to follow his big sister half note around. In 4/4 time, how many beats is half note? (Two beats) But Dot could STILL only be half as big! So how big is Dot when he's with half note? (One beat) And together they are... (Three beats)
Always unsatisfied, Dot looked for another way to grow. Then, he spotted his oldest sister, whole note. In 4/4 time, how many beats is whole note? (Four beats) But lo and behold, poor little Dot was STILL only half as big as his sister! How many beats is Dot now? (Two beats) and all together, the two of them are how big? (Six beats)
The End. Poor little Dot.
It might make a better story to end with something like, "Dot finally learned to accept his small size..." But I like the way it sticks with my students that Dot is always a little frustrated and always only half the size of his siblings. (Many aspects of this story could be changed to suit your needs. Gender could obviously change for any characters.)