Empower your students to become the future leaders of our democracy! With our new Private i History Detectives Civic Virtues Collection, students explore the lives of inspiring figures who championed civic values before them.

Use these four new units to strengthen your classroom community and explore what it means to practice perseverance, generosity, and civic-mindedness. These inquiry-based units use primary sources to introduce students to historical figures like Katherine Johnson, Wilma Rudolph, Clara Barton, Robert Smalls, and Benjamin Franklin.

Through these standards-aligned and ready-to-use lessons, students discover the power of civic virtue and recognize examples in primary sources and historical narratives.

Explore the Civic Virtues Units

Kickstart the school year with iCivics! As you prepare to welcome students back into the classroom, we have your back with engaging civics and election-related resources just for elementary school teachers!

We invite you to a free webinar with Natacha Scott, iCivics’ Director of Educator Engagement, on August 22 from 7:00 to 8:00 p.m. ET.

Join us for:

• A tour of our new website, launching soon! It has been updated and upgraded to be more user-friendly. We’ll walk you through it.
• An exclusive preview of yet-to-be-released resources
• An overview of our Election HQ and support for teaching elections to young learners

Register Today

Private i History Detectives Unit: Why Do We Have So Many Governments?

Have you incorporated Private i History Detectives in your spring curriculum yet?

These free, whole-class, ready-to-go lessons will help you teach the fundamentals of history and civics to your K–5 learners. Trust us; these are the resources you've been looking for!

Private i History Detectives places young learners in the center of the action by challenging them to act as history detectives. Each unit asks students a “Big Question” such as “What does it mean to be a citizen?” and then guides them to use primary sources to form conclusions.

Reasons to love Private i History Detectives:

• Short and Standards Aligned: Lessons can be completed in 45 minutes or less and are aligned with state standards for all 50 states.
  
  
• Accessible and Adaptable: Student materials are adaptable, downloadable, and printable to meet the needs of your classroom.
  
  
• Teacher Led and Ready to Use: Each unit includes a slideshow with a brainstorm prompt, mystery question, vocabulary words, and lesson plans with clearly outlined key objectives.

Explore Private i History Detectives

Help your students put on their historian hats as they develop life-long inquiry skills and solve historical mysteries. Our whole-class inquiry-based curriculum, Private i History Detectives, expands critical thinking skills and builds content knowledge.

How Did Opposition to Laws Fuel the American Revolutionary War?
Students analyze primary sources, evaluate the points of view, and identify keywords to explore how the American colonies’ resistance to laws fueled the American Revolutionary War. 

Discover this New Grade 3 Unit

How Did Laws, Courts, and People Impact Civil Rights in the Late 1800s?
Students use inquiry skills and primary source analysis to summarize main ideas, investigate how the courts were used to challenge unfair laws, and research how individuals and groups fought for civil rights throughout the 1800s.

Explore this New Grade 5 Unit