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How can I use Curipod for Social Studies?

Here's how real social studies teachers use Curipod.

Written by Rebecca Worden

We talked to teachers who teach social studies in 6th-12th grade, including teachers of world history, US history, and geography. Here's the advice they shared for getting started with Curipod!

  1. Start with the slides you already have

  2. Use a timed writing activity for your Do Nows/exit tickets

  3. Build a full lesson from a topic and/or standard

  4. Don't be afraid to experiment!

1. Start with the slides you already have

If you have Google Slides or Powerpoints for your units, you can upload your decks to Curipod (we call this "curifying" your slides), and Curipod will add checks for understanding and interactive activities to sit between your existing slides.

"I have self-created Google Slides for all of my units and I upload them into Curipod to curify my slides. I add a poll, vocab review, a drawing activity, and an exit ticket. Students love it, especially the drawing aspect when they get to vote on each other's drawings." — Michelle, 6th grade social studies teacher in Arizona

How to get started:

Curipod is designed to run for a single class period (or part of a class period). So divide your slides (or print to PDF a section of your slides) that corresponds to what you'd teach in a single period.

Then, log into Curipod and choose the "Curify My Slides" option:

Upload the slides you want to teach today, and add any other kind of guidance you like to the chat box. Curipod will ask you some questions in order to check it understands your lesson objective, and then it will generate your interactive lesson!

Tip: You can always add more checks and activities to the slides! To do this, click on "Add activity" in the editing toolbar (left side of the page).

2. Use a timed writing activity for Do Nows or exit tickets

If you already run a Do Now and an exit ticket every class, Curipod's open-ended question with AI feedback can replace the whiteboards, discussion boards, or paper you're collecting them on, and give every student feedback before the bell rings.

Cory teaches AP US History and AP Human Geography in Texas. For years his Do Nows were on whiteboards and his exit tickets were Schoology discussion posts. It was challenging for him to read every Do Now, and exit ticket completion was low. Now the Curipod join code for the Do Now is on the board when students walk in, and ready at the end of each lesson for the exit ticket, too. Students write, and they receive personalized AI feedback the moment the timer ends.

Cory's recipe, step by step:

  1. Log in to Curipod.

  2. Choose the "Create from blank" option, click "Add activity" in the editing toolbar, and select "AI feedback" activity.

  3. Type or paste in the question you want students to answer.

  4. Adjust the rubric (optional!). By default, Curipod will give feedback according to a "Glow & Grow" rubric, but you can update it to a "Social studies short answer" rubric instead (this provides feedback on content knowledge, clarity of response, use of evidence, and critical thinking). If you're on a Curipod school or district plan, you can also choose "Custom" as the rubric, and edit anything you like! Cory's rubric tells the AI: this is AP US History; this is a Do Now (don't penalize concepts we haven't taught yet) or an exit ticket (check for today's concept); score 0–3 like an AP short-answer question; look for the TEA structure (topic sentence, evidence, analysis); ignore spelling and grammar; keep the feedback readable for multilingual students; and end with one specific revision the student could make.

"If I need to tweak the rubric between class periods, I can do it in 60 seconds and it's ready to go again." — Cory, AP US History and AP Human Geography teacher

Tip: Once you've found a format and rubric that works for you, don't create tomorrow's Do Now/exit ticket from scratch! Click "File" in the lesson that worked and choose "Make a copy." All your rubric and formatting edits will be there in the copy, and you can just swap out the question.

3. Build a full content lesson from a topic

If you don't have pre-existing materials, you can generate a lesson from a topic or standard and then edit it like any slide deck. Curipod builds content slides in layouts that suit history well: timelines, cause-and-effect cycles, side-by-side comparisons, and numbered sequences. And if you have a source or passage but no slides, Curipod can build a lesson around that, too!

"I love Curipod for reviewing concepts or going over concepts that students need to be aware of, but are not necessarily tested on. An example would be learning the difference between primary and secondary sources." — Shane, 7th grade Social Studies teacher in Michigan

How to get started:

Log into Curipod and choose the "Generate a Lesson" option:

Tell Curipod what you want to teach, and (optional) upload any sources or materials you want to use by clicking "Add materials" near the bottom left of the chat box. Curipod will ask you some questions in order to check it understands your lesson objective, and then it will generate your interactive lesson!

Mr. Velasquez teaches high school US History in California and uses Curipod regularly. The Curipod lessons he creates mix content slides (e.g. a timeline of Grant-era scandals, a four-step cycle of how political machines worked, a Bryan vs. McKinley comparison) with activities that push students to take a position.

What his activities look like:

  • A dilemma poll to open: "President John has been awful but he's your party's candidate. Candidate George is honest but you disagree with all his policies. Candidate Jenny is polling at 1%. Who do you vote for?"

  • An open-ended question mid-lesson: "If poor and working-class Americans make up 40% of the population, why do politicians seem to ignore their needs?"

  • A word cloud after the Interstate Commerce Act: "Name something in America you are grateful is regulated."

  • An AI feedback question to close: "Why might it be important to limit how much an individual or company can contribute to a political campaign?"

Tip: For a more visually exciting lesson, ask Curipod to include images when it generates a lesson.

4. Don't be afraid to experiment!

"Don't wait until you've mastered the tool, just dive in. Treat your first Curipod lessons as experiments, not performances. Your willingness to try things in front of students models exactly the kind of curious, risk-taking learning we want from them." — Mr. Velasquez, high school US History teacher

Top tips from social studies teachers using Curipod:

  • Read everything Curipod creates, then edit. "Sometimes students are given too much time to complete an activity and that needs to be adjusted ahead of time." — Michelle.

  • Stop AI shortcuts before they start. If you're concerned about students using AI to generate writing, take a screenshot of the question, then add that on top of the text. (Students won't be able to copy and paste the question from the slide.) If you're on a School or District Plan, you can disable pasting in your lesson settings if you need to.

  • Moderate from your phone. Open the moderation tool on your phone or a second device so that you can see what all students are doing in Curipod in real time. This also allows you to dismiss any inappropriate or off-topic responses so they don't appear on the classroom screen.

  • Duplicate, don't rebuild. Once a lesson format works, duplicate it and swap the prompt.

  • Don't wait to feel like an expert. "Every attempt, polished or messy, gives you real experience and helps you figure out which features actually fit your teaching style." — Mr. Velasquez

Need inspiration?

Check out these Curipod lessons, created by real teachers:

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