As my unit on Transformations with my Geometry students is quickly approaching, I decided to take a little time to review Jen Silverman's Transformation Unit. Jen does curriculum work for the state of Connecticut and was kind enough to share this unit for feedback purposes and for individual teachers’ use.
The first component of the unit that I took note of was that the content is presented in a way that guides students to discover the key ideas, rather than requiring the teacher to deliver the information. A little history is even worked in! I love that students need to apply their prior knowledge and can work at their own pace! I also liked the “Amazing Vector,” “Translation Puzzle,” and “Flip Flop” (to name a few), where it ties in a little play while students practice their newly acquired knowledge about transformations. The ambrigrams activity is also a great way to spark the interest of more artistic students - very cool! (While the video clip was interesting, I was hoping it would have more mathematical content.)
The GeoGebra lessons were also very interesting to look through. I like how Jen includes screenshots and specific instructions to guide students. I think with the very first GeoGebra activity, though, I would need to do it as a whole class activity rather than cut the students loose. Another option would be to do a short GeoGebra tutorial. In my school, teachers have used Sketchpad in the past, so I’ll have to decide if I want to follow their lead or venture out and use GeoGebra. Either way this hands-on way of allowing students to explore will undoubtedly deepen their interest and understanding.
Another neat idea in Jen’s unit is the idea of creating a quilt using square patterns and 90/180/270 degree rotations. I’m always looking for ways to display student work in a fun, colorful way! As a quick review, I would probably also ask students to plot a point of their choice in their original square, rotate that point, and write the appropriate coordinates in the other three squares.
Another strength of the unit are the opportunities for spiral review - asking students to apply knowledge from earlier in the unit to current topics. Often times students are asked to explain their reasoning, which is a great practice for SBA tests! For example, “Is rotation an isometry? Explain.”
Overall, I think this is a fantastic unit on Transformations. When I have the time, I plan to compare it with my current Transformation unit to see where I can incorporate some of Jen’s ideas. I know that both the students and I will appreciate the explorative nature of these student-led activities. Thanks, Jen!
The first component of the unit that I took note of was that the content is presented in a way that guides students to discover the key ideas, rather than requiring the teacher to deliver the information. A little history is even worked in! I love that students need to apply their prior knowledge and can work at their own pace! I also liked the “Amazing Vector,” “Translation Puzzle,” and “Flip Flop” (to name a few), where it ties in a little play while students practice their newly acquired knowledge about transformations. The ambrigrams activity is also a great way to spark the interest of more artistic students - very cool! (While the video clip was interesting, I was hoping it would have more mathematical content.)
The GeoGebra lessons were also very interesting to look through. I like how Jen includes screenshots and specific instructions to guide students. I think with the very first GeoGebra activity, though, I would need to do it as a whole class activity rather than cut the students loose. Another option would be to do a short GeoGebra tutorial. In my school, teachers have used Sketchpad in the past, so I’ll have to decide if I want to follow their lead or venture out and use GeoGebra. Either way this hands-on way of allowing students to explore will undoubtedly deepen their interest and understanding.
Another neat idea in Jen’s unit is the idea of creating a quilt using square patterns and 90/180/270 degree rotations. I’m always looking for ways to display student work in a fun, colorful way! As a quick review, I would probably also ask students to plot a point of their choice in their original square, rotate that point, and write the appropriate coordinates in the other three squares.
Another strength of the unit are the opportunities for spiral review - asking students to apply knowledge from earlier in the unit to current topics. Often times students are asked to explain their reasoning, which is a great practice for SBA tests! For example, “Is rotation an isometry? Explain.”
Overall, I think this is a fantastic unit on Transformations. When I have the time, I plan to compare it with my current Transformation unit to see where I can incorporate some of Jen’s ideas. I know that both the students and I will appreciate the explorative nature of these student-led activities. Thanks, Jen!
RSS Feed