FIELD TRIP TO THE MUSEUM DCS Picture Analysis

This group of students is on a field trip as part of their lesson on colonial America. The field trip takes them to an area where they
will watch a blacksmith forging iron. The blacksmith is going to demonstrate how horse shoes are made. She warns the children
that the molten iron is very dangerous and sparks will fly as she works with it and they MUST stay back behind the chain.
There are 30 fourth graders in this class all hearing except for two. One Deaf boy (maroon shirt with stripes on the arm) just
transferred, along with his Deaf parents and siblings, from Kendall Demonstration Elementary School in Washington, DC and one
deaf girl (blue jacket) is very hard of hearing but reads lips well and uses sign mostly to supplement her ability to hear. Her sign
usage is very English-based and she does not comprehend ASL sign structure very well. The boys IEP states that he is to have an ASL
interpreter and the girls IEP says that she is to rely on speech reading, use of an audio loop, and her hearing aids for
communication. But you notice that she watches you as the interpreter frequently for comprehension particularly in noisy
environments.
The room is small on the side of the chain and many children in the back are complaining that they cant see and some of them are
pushing. The teacher has allowed all the children to file into the room and has stepped outside. She has seen this demonstration
many times and does not want to not take up space in the crowded room. Plus she says the musty smell and the heat really get to
her. You have been walking on the tour for most of the morning and it is almost time to eat lunch and get back on the bus. One
child is leaning on the chain and swinging, the teacher has been disciplining him all day and told him that if he didnt behave he
would have to stay next to her for the rest of the day. When the blacksmith starts to strike the iron, the deaf girl turns off her
hearing aids and complains that the loud noise hurts her ears. The blacksmith talks and demonstrates at the same time. She has a
very heavy accent probably from Southern Appalachia and uses terms like tote it and poke and yonder. The children will be
asked to write an essay describing what blacksmiths do and what they observed when they return to the classroom.