First Person Presentations and Inquiry in First Grade

Abstract Students learned to perform first-person presentation to display information researched through an inquiry process. Teachers helped students learn inquiry during instructional time. Teachers, parents, and guardians worked together to support student learning in a high poverty and low educational attainment Appalachian community. The character the students selected represented democratic citizenship to the audience of friends, visitors, parents, guardians, and community members. Reading in the content area supported decision making about the difference between celebrity and democratic citizenship.