Creative lesson plan ideas for math ebooks [Sora in the Classroom Series]
By: Amanda Izuka-Lawman and Carley Cook, Product Support Specialists
Our recurring Sora in the Classroom series is intended to provide lesson ideas to help you use Sora to support your state and district technology and curriculum requirements across all subject areas.
In the third part of this series, we’ll cover actionable ideas for your math lessons, plus some key math ebooks you can start using right away in the classroom.
Geometry
Elementary/Middle Grades
We all know the tale of King Arthur and the Round Table – but how did the idea for the Round Table come to be? Sir Cumference and the First Round Table answers that question in a goofy (yet educational!) way, providing lessons that can be used to teach circumference, radius and diameter.
To start this lesson, project the title on the board to read aloud with students. Meanwhile, they can keep the title open on their devices to make personal annotations for different math terms. Once finished, they can export their notes and you can use them to guide further lessons about measuring circumference, radius, and diameter.
Ratios and Proportions
Middle Grades
Slam Dunk! Basketball Facts and Stats
drops mathematic questions and concepts into the real-world context of basketball statistics. As students read and solve problems, they can highlight the problems they’re having trouble with in Sora and create notes with their questions. They can also use annotations to write their answer or explain the process they used to solve a problem.
Their annotations can be exported to share with a teacher, parent, or peer. Slam Dunk! Basketball Facts and Stats contains answers to the problems in the back of the book, making it a great option for students to check and self-assess their work.
Statistics and Probability
Middle Grades
Did you know that you can use Sora’s data-tracking capabilities to teach students a lesson in statistical analysis? Educators can either provide numbers from the Director Dashboard or have students check the dashboard at regular intervals (daily or weekly). Then, ask students to plot the numerical changes on an x and y axis.
At the end of the month or quarter, students will need to connect the dots and look for trends in the data. They can answer questions like the following:
- Did the numbers increase based on the day of the week?
- Did more reading happen on Tuesdays? Did it decline on Saturdays?
At the end of a quarter/semester/school year, they can write up a report about school-wide reading trends based on the information they graphed.
More math ebooks f0r your classroom
Looking for more math ebooks for your students? Check out more titles that can be used in your classroom at the links below!
Math ES | Math MS/HS
Discover additional tips for using Sora across all subjects
The lessons in this blog post demonstrate how Sora can be brought into your math classroom. In upcoming posts, you’ll learn how Sora helps you meet technology standards in history and electives classes.
Check out prior articles covering Sora lessons in science and ELA classes below. Plus, receive alerts when new lessons are live by subscribing to the blog!
Sora in the Classroom: Using digital books for science curriculum
Please reach out to your Sora team to learn more about how ebooks and audiobooks can be an equitable investment for your school.
About the Authors
Amanda Izuka-Lawman has been a Product Support Specialist with OverDrive for 6 years. Before joining the OverDrive team, she was a middle school Science teacher and STEM Coordinator for 11 years. In her free time, she loves visiting with family and friends, taking road trips and having free weekends with her husband, two kids and new puppy.
Carley Cook is a Product Support Specialist working with schools in New York, Georgia, Arkansas, and Tennessee. She previously worked as a reading specialist for students in grades K-5, a 4th grade social studies and English language arts teacher, and a figure skating coach. In her free time, she loves reading, cooking, and traveling to new places.
Many thanks to the OverDrive Educators group for their contributions to this blog post.
