Related: How (and Why) I Teach Optical Illusions
When you're in the middle of the year teaching, it can be hard to come up with great activities off the top of your head. You're tired and you end up falling asleep before you finish scrolling Pinterest while you're in bed. (I've been there!) So, I wanted to give you a great list of FIFTEEN awesome ideas for teaching geometric transformations. The beauty of this list is that most of the ideas could be used for middle school kids or high school kids, with only small adaptations.
15 Ideas for Teaching Geometric Transformations
Messing With Lisa GeoGebra Demo - This demo would be a cool way to introduce the unit. Buttons on the side transform the famous Mona Lisa painting.
Transformations and Translations Interactive Notebook Pages - These are great introduction pages for the beginning of the unit.
Reflections and Rotations Interactive Notebook Pages - These four pages are perfect for lessons about reflections and rotations. Practice pages are included too!
Rotations Spinning Manipulative - This cool demo by @mathdyal on Instagram is such a cool way to help students understand rotations. Even if you don't have students complete the activity individually, it is a great demo to show your class.
Discovering Rotations Rules - This is another tutorial to explain rotations to students. The printed sheets to give to students are included.
Dilations and Symmetry Interactive Notebook Pages - The foldable for dilations is a perfect way for a quick lesson before you turn students loose to practice.
Translations Digital Quizzes - This page is mostly an explanation page for students. However, as students go through the online "lesson" there are short quizzes for them to take. This would be perfect for a student that is absent or if you need to have a sub day.
Transformations Flip Book - This flip book is great for students to keep all their notes for the whole unit!
Geometric Transformations Digital Activity - Do you have access to devices in your classroom? This digital activity has students fill in their own summary notes and has practice problems for them to complete.
Geometric Transformations Task Cards - These task cards are great to use as warm-ups throughout the unit or as a review game at the end of the unit. Have you played Let the Cards Decide? These task cards are perfect for this engaging, but maddening game!
GeoGebra Pentominoes - This activity reminds me of Tetris. It's a fun little activity that can be maddening!
Geometric Transformations Math Pennant Activity - This pennant would be fun to use as an exit ticket and then doubles as decoration for your classroom!
Transformations "I Have... Who Has..." Game - This is a fun little game that keeps students on their toes and can be played over and over again. I love making it a competition!
Transformations Summative Assessment Project - If you want to end your unit with an artsy type project, this would be my choice! I love the blend of math with creativity in this project.
