Using Pear Deck for More than Whole Group Instruction

DISCLAIMER: I am a Pear Deck lover, however, they are not paying me write this blog post. I brainstormed these ideas over the last year myself, with the critique of colleagues - but there is always a chance someone else had a similar idea. I speak only to my personal experiences and pedagogy.

Pear Deck and I started out around the same time together in the education world, circa 2015. I was introduced to the app in its early days during my first year of teaching and I have sworn by it ever since. It’s user-friendliness is second to none. Even some teachers that find themselves not as technologically there find it easy to use. I also love that you can take any resource you already have in Google Slides and make it interactive - no reinventing the wheel!

Some teachers may think of this being odd, but Pear Deck is a regular staple in my classes and my most frequently used pedagogical tool. I have found that in playing around with Pear Deck over the last few years, especially during the pandemic, that it can be used for more than just whole group lecture lessons. It can be used for experiences beyond the basic formative and summative assessment with a little bit of creativity and imagination.

Virtual Field Trips and Webquests

Set up your class’s next virtual field trip or webquest with Pear Deck! Pear Deck make its easy to link websites on their slides with the “Website” tool. If you want students to respond to a YouTube video, you can embed it as you normally would on a Google Slide and use the “text” tool. Have students use the “Draw” tool to draw their favorite part of the virtual trip or circle the location you’re visiting on a map. These allows for students to respond directly to the experience vs. looking at a website and answering questions.

For an example, take a look at my Virtual Field Trip to Ancient Greece - where I take students to modern day locations that still exist from Ancient Greece!

Mini-DBQs and Primary Source Analysis

Document Based Questions (DBQs) can be intimidating to even the best of readers and writers. It’s push originated with the idea of incorporating English Language Arts skills into Social Studies. With Pear Deck, I've been able to take a typical DBQ and not only shrink it down, but make it interactive and engaging. I take different sources and give each source at least 2-3 slides - one slide to annotate (using the "Draw" tool), sometimes one slide to answer a basic question about the source (I often use the "Choice" tool for this), and always a slide to write a brief written response about the source using the "Text" tool. Take a look at my Why Crusade? Crusades Mini DBQ as an example.

Making your DBQs into Pear Decks offers a plethora of benefits to students. My (middle school) students have told me they prefer this method over getting a 10 page Google Doc or packet. They like that the DBQ is broken down into separate pieces with each slide, making it way less daunting. Using Pear Deck also allows you to integrate secondary sources, such as YouTube videos and Newsela articles (wth the "Website" tool) for even more perspectives on a topic. The Immersive Reader tool (only available with a premium account!!!) makes big words and tricky vocabulary more accessible to all types of learners. You can have students work in Student Paced mode and move into Instructor Paced mode at any time to go over tricky parts together without anyone jumping ahead.

I hope this post gave you a different perspective on how to use Pear Deck in your classes. Click here to see all of my Pear Decks!