02 Worldwide Habitats Script

SCRIPT 2: Geography/ELT

Experiencing World-Wide Habitats: Selected from Four Continents Adapted for podcasting from: Frank, C. Grossi, J. Stanfield, D. (2006). Application of reading strategies within the classroom: Explanations, models and teacher templates for content areas in grades 3 – 12. pp.136 – 138. Boston: Pearson Education

Readers’ Theatre techniques can be used to present informational texts as well. Students conduct research on unique animals on each continent and transform the information into a drama script which they record and upload as a podcast. Directions: Using the following "Experiencing World-Wide Habitats" text, assign each student a voice to rehearse and read aloud as a Readers' Theater.

SFX: Narrator:

Music Welcome to our show! We will be taking you on a journey to visit some very special animals on four continents. We will pay special attention to animals from a variety of habitats that we think you will find unusual.

SFX: All:

Music Southeast Asia!!

Narrator:

Southeast Asia has some extremely interesting animals with which we would you like you to become familiar. Try to picture these animals as you listen.

Voice 1:

Nine feet long with powerful jaws, my tail is wide for swimming. As an aquatic lizard, I eat small rodents, other lizards, and fish. I am the Malayan water monitor of Indonesia.

Voice 2:

I am an Asian small-clawed otter. Reaching out with my paws, I catch my prey, feasting on fish and crabs. I am so intelligent I can be trained to catch and bring fish to my owner!

Voice 3:

I am a massive snake, and I grow to 13 feet. The longest ever is 19 feet-give me room!

Voice 4:

As an Indian python, I eat deer, monkeys, and goats. I am becoming extinct. Habitat destruction may force an end to me.

SFX: All: Narrator:

Music Africa!! Now we are off to Africa to hear about three unusual animals found on this far away continent. Are you trying to visualize how each animal may appear?

SCRIPT 2: Geography/ELT Voice 5:

Voice 6:

I live in the Sahara and have suction-like foot pads to help me run up steep boulders, with agility and quickness. Rock hyrax, that’s my name. I’m the size of a rabbit, but related to, the elephant! An armored reptile am I, the African dwarf crocodile. Endangered! Hatched out of an egg 11 inches long, I grow-to 6 feet. Rain forests, swamps, and rivers of West Africa are where you’ll find me.

Voice 7:

I lie motionless, almost submerged, to attack unsuspecting fish and amphibians. I have to eat, you know!

Voice 8:

Naked mole rat living in the desert, dwelling in an underground labyrinth. My place includes special sleeping rooms and nurseries for the little ones.

SFX: All:

Music South America!!

Narrator:

South America is our next stop. These unique animals sound very exciting to get to know, from a distance! Try to imagine what each might look like as you listen.

Voice 9:

I'm a dyeing poison arrow frog. Watch out! Extremely potent poison is excreted through my skin. My brilliant colors make me a jewel of the rainforest, warning predators away. Deforestation in Brazil endangers me.

Voice 10:

I am the golden-headed lion tamarin. I've a long and silky mane. \We mate for life; we usually produce twins.

Voice 11:

As a three-banded armadillo, my back is protected by strong bony body plates

Voice 12:

But my underbelly is covered with soft, hairy skin. To protect myself from predators I roll into a complete, armored ball.

SFX: All:

Music Australia!!

Narrator:

Our final visit is to the continent of Australia. We have located some interesting animals here as well. Listen carefully!

Voice 13:

Having no teeth, my long sticky tongue removes ants and termites from their nests. Yum, yum!

SCRIPT 2: Geography/ELT Voice 14:

I am the short-nosed echina. Using excellent hearing, and my sharp keen smell, I detect my enemies, safely curling into a tight, spiny ball.

Voice 15:

I am one of the world's two egg-laying mammals. Do you know the other?

All:

The duck-billed platypus.

Voice 16:

A marsupial and not a bear, I am a koala. Weighing in at birth at half a gram, I'm the size of a bee.

Voice 17:

After living in Mom's pouch for six months, I spend the rest of my life high in a eucalyptus tree. A diet of eucalyptus is my only food and drink.

Voice 18:

Growing to six feet in length, the green tree python spends its entire life coiling around branches in treetops. A constrictor it loves the high temperature and tropical humidity of northern Australia.

All:

That’s all for today folks!!

Narrator:

We've enjoyed bringing you new information on various worldwide habitats. Imagining what animals might look like can be fun! Look for these animals on the internet-view pictures and further

SFX:

Music

Website resources for readers' theater: http://www/aaronshep.com/rt/;http://www.readerstheatre.com; http://www.storycart.com;http://loiswalker.com/catalog/guidesamples.html; http://www.readinglady.com;http://home.spynet.com/~palermo/into_rdio.htm. Note: Information from Creatures of Habitat, Lincoln Park Zoo, Chicago, 11. Readers' theater script composed by Cecilia Frank and Jan Grossi.