Pear Deck + ThinkCERCA = College, Career, and Civic Readiness

We're excited to announce a Pear Deck partnership with ThinkCERCA to help teachers engage students in accelerated learning!

ThinkCERCA is a district-wide framework for orchestrating efforts to improve students’ literacy skill development in a blended-learning environment. The CERCA framework helps students learn how to make Claims, support claims with Evidence, clearly explain Reasoning, identify Counterarguments, and use Audience-Appropriate Language. With ThinkCERCA, students hone the analytical skills they will need to make informed decisions as citizens.

We asked Eileen Murphy, Founder and CEO of ThinkCERCA, to share more about the CERCA framework and how educators can spark courageous thinking through literacy.

We know that teachers have more to tackle than just catching up on unfinished learning due to the pandemic. We all have an opportunity to shape the future of 55 million students who can make an enormous impact on some of the most pressing problems of our global society. Together, ThinkCERCA and Pear Deck hope to spark courageous thinking and empower young people to reshape our world by collaborating with each other in critical thinking and writing about issues that really matter.

Literacy is at the core of this work. Literacy is the key to both the fragility and the resilience of our communities. While social media has democratized the reach of individuals in civic discourse, it has also amplified the power of every individual to use words and images to divide and to unite, to include and to exclude. Now more than ever, literacy teachers serve an absolutely critical role in strengthening our communities. We must ensure access to the power of the written and spoken word for every student and help our diverse communities share their stories effectively. Together, we believe that amplifying our students' voices is the key to an amazing future for all of us.

That’s why ThinkCERCA and Pear Deck have partnered to provide educators with ready-to-teach CERCA Slides, complete with Pear Deck interactive prompts designed to spark courageous thinking! Each themed collection includes readings and writing experiences at 10 levels for readers at all levels of readiness. Each Deck has been curated by ThinkCERCA’s expert team and paired with proven instructional strategies to help your students navigate ThinkCERCA lessons and prompt classroom conversations.

By adopting a culturally responsive, inclusive curriculum and a districtwide framework for civic argumentation, ThinkCERCA districts all over the country are equipping their students with career and college readiness skills — and so much more. We are supporting students in social and emotional learning and humane citizenship.

ThinkCERCA’s framework is proven to help students achieve two years of reading growth per year and 20 percent gains in writing within eight weeks. With Pear Deck’s superpowers in student engagement and ThinkCERCA’s industry-leading literacy outcomes, this exciting partnership brings together the best of student engagement, great content, critical thinking, and powerful writing across content areas. With a new collection published every week, there’s never a limit to how much teachers and students can explore!

Introducing CERCA Slides with Pear Deck-powered questions designed to engage students and spark courageous thinking. Designed by teachers, CERCA Slides provide one or more weeks of instruction. Whether students are remote, hybrid, or in a traditional classroom environment, teachers can use ThinkCERCA’s ready-made interactive lessons!

Get the Lessons