Teaching geometric transformations can be a daunting task, especially if you are looking to make it discovery based and not rote memorization and procedure based. In this post, I will walk you through my complete lesson plans for teaching transformations to struggling students.
Introducing Transformations
When I first start the transformations unit for my 8th graders, I begin with a “Notice & Wonder” activity. I give each of my groups this emoji graphic organizer. With it, I have them describe how the emoji changes in each picture.
Typically, 8th graders have no prior knowledge of transformations because it is an 8th grade specific standard. This allows them to truly use their vernacular to describe the transformation.
Once students have had time to come up with ways to describe each picture, I have them summarize it into one word. “Based on what you saw, what one word could you use to describe the change?”
Using the word they come up for each picture, we move into a whole class summary activity. It looks like this:
While students are doing this, I hang four posters depicting the images from their graphic organizer around the room.
When groups have their words, I send them to write it on the board surrounding the posters.
Then as a class we do a gallery walk. We huddle around each poster as I take what they saw and attach the academic name for each transformation to it.
It’s a powerful tool because it links what they knew or discovered about the images. I’m only labeling it with a new term! Plus, going forward, I’ll sprinkle in the vernacular they used. For example, my students equated the dilation picture to the Marvel character Ant Man. So now as we discuss dilations, I throw in references, videos, and pictures of Ant Man to help bridge what they know to what they are learning.
It “Ant Man”s their brains! (That’s student code for it grows their brains…just FYI.)
Identifying Transformations
After the intro lesson for transformations, we move into identifying transformations on a graph. I find that learning from the end goal (transforming shapes on a coordinate plane) helps them build deeper connections.
I usually start the lesson off with this video as the hook:
Then we move into this card sort! It has both real world pictures that relate to each transformation and graphs of transformations. This card sort will help students gain deeper understanding of transformations because they are connecting real-life objects with graphed transformations.
✨How This Activity Works✨
- Print one copy per team.
- Give students time to discuss and do a rough draft sort. (Notice & Wonder)
- Have students complete a gallery walk of all the teams’ sorts.
- Students will finalize their thinking and present to the class.
You could also use this Logo Transformation Sort. It is a bit more open-ended as a lot of the logos could be sorted into multiple categories. You can download it here.
Teaching Geometric Translations
Similar to the “Identifying Transformations” lesson, I start with the end in mind. If you follow Common Core, the goal of transformations is to be able to describe how the transformation changes the coordinate points. My lessons drive students to this idea.
Speaking of driving, that’s how I get students to discover how a translation affects coordinate points.
We want to create pathways to things students have already experienced, like driving! This is especially important since most curriculums put transformations as the first unit. The more connections made, the stronger the bridge will become.
Using a grid map like this helps students grasp the idea of moving around a graph.
Teaching Reflections on a Coordinate Plane
When I was a kid, one of my favorite memories of long car trips was this giant Arthur-themed activity book. It was filled with crosswords, mazes, riddles, coloring pages, and symmetry drawings! And those symmetry or reflection drawings are what I use to help students in the understanding of reflecting a shape on a coordinate plane.
Completing a symmetry drawing was all about being precise. This skill perfectly aligns with the precision needed to complete geometric reflections. So here’s the activity I used to start off our week on reflections:
I gave students a half sheet with these images on the front and back respectively. The tools they had available to them were rulers, mini mirrors, and pencils.
Then after the time is up (we don’t spend a lot of time on it), I have students discuss with their groups the strategies they used to precisely complete the image.
Most students comment on how cool it is to line the mirror up with the image to see the full thing. And that right there is my secret hack to teaching reflections: using mini square mirrors. It allows students to predict and check there work when we graph reflections.
Teaching Geometric Rotations
When I move into the rotations week, my favorite activity for students to do is this Transformation Tetris by Transum. What’s perfect about it is that it uses the academic terms of “Translate Left”, “Rotate 90 degrees”, etc.
Once the basic concept has been learned, I move into actual showing how rotations work. Some of my favorite real-life depictions of rotations are:
- Wheels
- Merry-Go-Round
- Ferris Wheels
All of these show how the object turns without the distance from the center of rotation changing.
Then, once students understand how rotations work, I show them how to do it on graph using a sticky note. Here’s a video to demonstrate:
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Are you looking for a leveled Geometric Transformations unit?
This scaffolded bundle includes differentiated worksheets and engaging activities to deepen your students’ understanding with geometric transformations.
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