Book: the Animal Kingdom by Bev Harvey

Ashley Carroll Transcript Analysis 2 April 21, 2005 Ellen Pesko

Book: The Animal Kingdom by Bev Harvey Grade: 1

Transcript

Teacher: Today we are going to talk about amphibians. Do you have any ideas about an example of an amphibian? Brandon?

Brandon: Um, an amphibian, they are different animals that have hair.

Teacher: Okay, so you think they have hair, do you agree? Alright Jeffrey?

Jeffrey: Umm, they….

Teacher: Well do we agree that they have hair?

All together: No!

Tyquann: They got slime on them.

Teacher: Okay you think that they are slimy. Do you think that they have slime on their back, or all over, or that they just feel slimy?

Tyquann: They, they they, feel slimy.

Teacher: Okay they feel slimy. Alright I agree with you. Okay Jeffrey go ahead and finish what you were saying.

Jeffrey: And um, they, they run fast.

Teacher: Okay and maybe they all run fast. And what do you think?

Damon: A tadpole?

Teacher: So you think a tadpole is an example of an amphibian?

Damon: Uh huh.

Teacher: Why do you think that?

Damon: Because it says that right up there. Teacher: That’s right. We had done that earlier this year.

Brandon: Uh, what do you call it, snakes.

Teacher: Ok, so maybe a snake could be an amphibian.

Jeffrey: (inaudible)

Madison: Can they be all different colors?

Teacher: Maybe.

Madison: Because that one is blue.

Teacher: Yes, this one is blue.

Jeffrey: Maybe some don’t have legs.

Teacher: Maybe some don’t have legs.

Jeffrey: And they have to use their bodies to move, like worms or snakes.

Teacher: Tyquann.

Tyquann: Uh, Amphibians…..(loses his train of thought)

Teacher: Do you want me to come back to you?

Tyquann: yeah.

Teacher: Okay Sir?

Sir: Maybe a spider that has legs?

Teacher: So is that going to be an amphibian or maybe something else?

Sir: Something else.

Teacher: That’s an arachnid. (Pointing to book) This looks like a frog; do you think a frog could be an amphibian?

All together: Yes! Yes!

Teacher: You are right. Startraya? Startraya: They have spots?

Teacher: Yes, well this one has spots. Do you think they all have spots?

Startraya: (inaudible)

Teacher: Tyquann?

Tyquann: Uh, uh, uh, amphibians they grow in the water.

Teacher: Do you think they live in the water, or they are born in the water?

All together: They are born in the water.

Teacher: Where do you think they end up living?

Tyquann: In the water.

Teacher: Like a fish?

Tyquann: No, no, no…

Teacher: Well maybe that is something we can find out from this book. Damon what do you think?

Damon: I was going to say that red frogs have spots on them like blue frogs have spots on them.

Teacher: But what about the amphibians though. We said they were born in water, but where do they spend the rest of their lives? Janiya?

Janiya: Maybe in a tree.

Teacher: Maybe in a tree, okay!

Someone: Maybe on land, maybe in the ocean.

Brandon: An amphibian could maybe be a lizard.

BEGIN READING BOOK (What is read from the book will be in () to set it apart from the questioning and discussion)

Teacher: (Amphibians are vertebrates. A vertebrate is an animal that has a backbone.) What’s a backbone? Jeffrey: We have a backbone.

Tyquann: Uh, a backbone is something that’s straight.

Teacher: Where is it?

Tyquann: In your back.

Teacher: Do we have backbones?

Everyone: (A mix of no’s and yes’s)

Teacher: Yes we do have a backbone. (Amphibians are cold-blooded. They do not have scales, and their skin is always moist.) What is moist?

Brandon: Slippery

Damon: Slimy

Teacher: Another word for moist is wet, something that is wet all the time.

Tyquann: (Tells a story that is not related to the discussion)

Teacher: Alight, let’s get back to amphibians. (Nearly all amphibians begin their life in the water. As they grow, most amphibians go through a change called metamorphosis.) Can you say metamorphosis?

Together: METAMORPHOSIS!

Teacher: What else so we know about that goes through a metamorphosis?

Brandon: An Egg?

Teacher: We just talked about it. What else can you connect it to? What other kind of animal goes through a metamorphosis?

Janiya: A frog.

Teacher: What other kind of animal?

Sir: Butterflies.

Teacher: Butterflies go through a metamorphosis also! (When they are adults, most amphibians can live on land. But many still need to live near water or in moist places. They will die of their skin dries out. ) Brandon: Like a snake.

Teacher; A snake is not an amphibian. A snake is a reptile.

Brandon: (Tells an unrelated story about snakes.)

Teacher: These are the types of amphibians: (Frogs are the first type of amphibian. They live all over the world, except in extremely cold places and very dry deserts.) Why wouldn’t they live in deserts? Madison?

Madison: Their skin is going to get dry and they are going to die.

Teacher: (Toads also live in most areas of the world. Toads look like frogs, but they have bumps on their skin. Salamanders live on every continent except Australia and Antarctica.)

Jeffrey: Why?

Teacher: Well Australia is a very, very warm place, and Antarctica is a very, very….

Jeffrey: Cold place, and Alaska too!

Teacher: (Newts are small salamanders that live in North America, which is where we live, Europe and Asia. These next creatures are called Axolotls. Axolotls are salamanders that live in Mexico. They spend their whole lives in water. Last, these are caecilians. They live in tropical regions of Central America, South America, and Asia.) So what doe these remind you of? Janiya?

Janiya: A snake.

Teacher: But are they a snake?

Together: NO!

Teacher: So make sure you don’t get those two confused, because they look like a snake but they’re not. They are different. They are an amphibian. Brandon?

Tyquann: (off Topic response)

Brandon: It seems like all everything has an attack to keep them away from everything.

Teacher: What do you mean? Brandon: They have different colors, and they might have stuff to get away from things that can eat them.

Teacher: So Brandon thinks that all these amphibians have something that can protect them, or keep them safe from other animals, do you agree?

Jeffrey: Yes! Like poison?

Teacher: Why do you agree Jeffrey?

Jeffrey: Probably because some amphibians have poison.

Teacher: Maybe. What else? Sir said something else about the colors. What do you think about the colors Madison?

Madison: Well I think that even though that thing isn’t a snake, it looks like a snake anyway.

Teacher: So if you were a little mouse and you saw this, would you think it was a snake?

Together: YES!

Teacher: Why?

Together: It looks like a snake!

Teacher: So even though it wasn’t a snake, you would run, because you thought it looked like a snake. So do you think that’s a good disguise?

Together: Oh yeah!

Brandon: Or maybe they could be like those kinds of lizards that turn the color of what they touch.

Teacher: Like a chameleon. Maybe they blend in with the area they are in. If they were in a black place, they would be black, or a red place, maybe reddish. Okay now let’s read a little about frogs and toads; how they are alike and how they are different. Which one do you think this is? (points to picture)

Together: A frog!

Teacher: Now look at this picture, this one has bumpy skin, so it is a…

Together: Oh A toad! Teacher: (Frogs and toads live everywhere except in the coldest and the driest places in the world. Frogs usually have smooth, moist skin. Most frogs live in or near water to keep their skin damp. Toads usually have dry, warty skin. Most adult toads only need to return to the water to have young. Frogs and toads jump to move.) Which one do you think can jump higher?

Together: Frogs…(a few say toads)

Teacher: Well (Frogs can jump many times the length of its body. Frogs have stronger back legs than toads. Most male frogs and toads croak to attract their mates. Some frogs have vocal sacs, which puff out from their throats. Frogs with vocal sacs can make their calls louder.)

Together: Ribbits everywhere

Brandon: (tells a story about his uncle)

Tyquann: (tells again why frogs and toads have large vocal sacs) I stopped typing my transcript here, because it continues to finish, and this section above was about 10-12 minutes. The tape continues on for about 30 to 40 minutes.