News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
News and Opinion from Sisters, Oregon
Sisters students and their counterparts statewide can get help with the math problem-solving section of their state assessment tests through a new book by Sisters High School math teacher Jim Harrison.
"Preparing for the Oregon State CIM Problem Solving Test" is now available, but only through schools.
"This is only sold to schools," Harrison noted. "This is intended to be monitored by a teacher and not used at home. This really takes teacher-student interaction."
The book helps students practice applying their math skills to solving complicated "word problems."
On the state Certificate of Initial Mastery (CIM) tests, students must not only get the right answer, they must also demonstrate the process and strategy they used to get their and explain their solution in writing.
"Many of our students can solve the problems, but they don't pass the test because they don't know how to do what the state is asking them to do," Harrison said. "The issue is practice; it really is."
Harrison's problem-solving tutorial is a companion book to one released by Harrison last year which is designed to prepare students for the multiple-choice portion of the test. That book teaches specific skills and can be used in independent study.
The book contains 88 problems, which Harrison developed over the summer (see sidebar). He wrote some of the book on the road, traveling in Yellowstone National Park and Banff National Park in Canada.
For more information, call 549-8076 or e-mail [email protected]
Jim Cornelius is editor in chief of The Nugget and author of “Warriors of the Wildlands: True Tales of the Frontier Partisans.” A history buff, he explores frontier history across three centuries and several continents on his podcast, The Frontier Partisans. For more information visit www.frontierpartisans.com.
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