Symmetry Selfies

One of the final things we study in 4th grade math is Geometry. By this point in the year, students brains are tired, folks. It’s about that time when we begin prepping students for the lovely end of the year tests, and we are all just.. well… TIRED.

But hey.. the show must go on, right?

A Fun & Creative Way to Teach Symmetry

So.. SYMMETRY. There are lots of super cool ways to teach symmetry in the classroom: Geoboards, mirrors, finish the picture, etc… One of the more engaging ways, from what I have found, however, is this cool little thing I came up with during my student teaching… SYMMETRY SELFIES!! (Although… I didn’t actually call them selfies way back then.)

So basically, I took photos of each of my students, had them developed, cut them in half, and taped them onto a “symmetry selfie” template. (I have also seen a fellow teacher friend print her photos straight to our copier, and it looked great!) I introduced symmetry to the kiddos, showed them some examples using some cut out letters of the alphabet (the old folding technique), and revealed their pictures. They LOVED this. I had them working on their selfies during a center. It doesn’t teach them everything they need to know about symmetry, of course. The standard actually says,

CCSS.MATH.CONTENT.4.G.A.3
Recognize a line of symmetry for a two-dimensional figure as a line across the figure such that the figure can be folded along the line into matching parts. Identify line-symmetric figures and draw lines of symmetry.

 

But hey.. it’s a great introductory lesson to get them engaged, motivated, and creates some positive geometry neuroassociations!

(Thank you to my parents for giving me special permission to use their child’s photo. You guys are the best!)