I’ll admit that I’ve never been one of those teachers who decks out their classroom for every holiday. I’m not really against it, but I struggle to find the time. I will say that I don’t like activities that are too ‘cutesy’ for my middle school students, but thought transformations might be a good topic to try a middle school Christmas math activity that would produce a little classroom decor.
This is part of my mission to try some new things with transformations. You can read about some of my other ideas here.
Here’s what I came up with:
I came up with eight possible ornament designs that require students to translate, rotate, reflect, or dilate some figures to produce the design. Students graph these on a blank ornament, then color and cut.
I’m thinking I could possibly create a blank tree out of butcher paper for my wall, then students can hang up their ornaments when they’re finished. Or maybe put a hole punch through the loop and hang them from the ceiling?
Either way, I recommend printing the ornaments on card stock so they hold up a little better.
Interested in trying this in your own class? You can find this resource here.
