Teacher tips

  1. Whenever possible, use applets and dynamic geometry software to allow students to experiment with applying transformations to closed figures in the coordinate plane.
  2. Use tracing paper and cut out figures to allow students to translate, reflect, and rotate figures on graph paper.
  3. Combine mathematically precise terms with everyday language to help students make sense of transformations. For example, a translation can also be described as a slide, a reflection can be described as a flip, and a rotation can be described as a twist or spin.