Lesson 1 Workshop: Naming Transformations
Supported route
This workshop uses movement cards, a teacher model and short checkpoints before ākonga work independently. Classes ready for a longer investigation can use the open-inquiry version of Lesson 1.
Learning target
By the final checkpoint, ākonga will name a slide, turn or flip with the mathematical term and point to the evidence that distinguishes it from the other two moves.
- Translation: the motif moves but keeps its orientation.
- Rotation: the motif turns through an angle about a named centre.
- Reflection: corresponding points sit equal distances from a mirror line.
Prepare before class
Print one set of slide / turn / flip cards per pair, draw a triangle on three transparent sheets, and choose four school-approved pattern images with a clearly repeated motif.
Keep mathematical observation separate from cultural interpretation. Geometry can describe how a motif is transformed; it does not explain the whakapapa or meaning of a design.
Gradual-release workshop · 60 minutes
1. Act, point, name · 8 minutes
Move one transparency in three different ways. Pairs hold up the everyday-language card first, then replace it aloud with translation, rotation or reflection.
2. Teacher model · 12 minutes
Think aloud over one before-and-after diagram: locate the unchanged lengths and angles, identify the reference line or centre when needed, and rule out the two incorrect names.
Leave this completed example visible so learners can copy the reasoning structure without copying the answer to the next diagram.
3. Guided card sort · 15 minutes
Pairs sort nine transformation diagrams into three columns. For every card they complete the oral frame: “It is a ___ because ___ stayed fixed and ___ changed.”
Checkpoint A: the teacher checks one card from each column before the pair moves on.
4. Mark an approved pattern image · 15 minutes
Each learner boxes one repeated motif, draws the transformation reference, and adds one precise label. If the image could support more than one description, they choose one move and defend it with visible evidence.
5. Independent exit check · 10 minutes
Draw a scalene triangle, translate it four grid squares right, then write two facts that prove the image was translated rather than rotated or reflected.
Teacher checkpoint notes
Keep the model: do not remove the completed example during pair practice; point learners back to its order of reasoning before supplying a missing word.
Reduce load: let learners indicate the correct movement card before asking for a full sentence, and accept a labelled diagram as evidence alongside oral language.
Ready to progress: a learner independently identifies all three moves and gives a property-based reason for at least two of them.
Curriculum alignment
- Te Mātaiaho (2025) · Mathematics and Statistics · Phase 4 (Years 9–10) · Geometry (Knowledge): “- A set of points in a plane can be transformed by translation, reflection about a line, and rotation about a fixed point.”
- NZC (2007) · Mathematics and Statistics · Level 5: “Define and use transformations and describe the invariant properties of figures and objects under these transformations.”