What Level of the CogAT will My Child Take?

NEW! Quantitative Battery, NonVerbal Battery and Verbal Battery

CogAT® levels correspond with the age of the child.  A child who is 5 or 6 will take the CogAT Level 5/6.  A 10-year-old will take Level 10, and so on.  Questions for Levels 5/6 – 8 are picture based.  Questions for Levels 9 – 17/18 are text based.  Each subtest has 2 sample items and 14 – 24 questions, depending on the subtest and the age of the child.

In 2nd grade, your child may be give the CogAT Primary Battery, a picture-based Battery of questions (similar to Levels 5/6-8) or she may be given the Multi-Level Battery, a text-based Battery of questions (similar to Levels 9-17/18).  If your school doesn’t tell you which Battery your 2^nd grader will receive, practice both.  They are similar questions that are presented in different ways.*  This is only an issue in 2^nd grade.

Let’s take a look at some of the different types of questions that are on the CogAT® for younger students.

We will begin with verbal and transition to quantitative next week!

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Verbal Analogies

Parent:  Say to your child: “Look at the 2 pictures on top.  They go together in some way.  Look at the picture in the bottom box and then look at the 4 answer choices.  Choose the answer that goes with the picture on the bottom the same way the pictures on top go together.”

1.

2.

3.

Answer: 3, 1, 2

Analogy questions like the ones you’ve just seen are some of the most common questions you will find on cognitive and intelligence tests.

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Sentence Completion

Parent:  Say to your child, “I’m going to ask you a question.  When I’m done, point to the picture that best answers the question.  Listen carefully because I can only ask the question once.”    [pictures follow questions.]

1. Which of these would you not find near the shore?

2. Which of these would you use to scrub?

3. Which of these would you most likely buy at a pharmacy?

1.

2.

3.

 

Answer: 3, 1, 2

Sentence Completion questions like the ones you’ve just seen are some of the most common questions you will find on cognitive and intelligence tests.

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Verbal Classification

Parent:  Say to your child, “Look at the pictures on top.  They are alike in some way and so they belong together.  Choose one picture from the bottom row that belongs with the pictures on top.”

1.

2.

3.

Answers:  4 (fruit), 4 (fast), 5 (made of wood)

Verbal Classification questions like the ones you’ve just seen are some of the most common questions you will find on cognitive and intelligence tests. 

We will return next week with quantitative practice questions to help prepare your child!

Quantitative Battery, NonVerbal Battery and Verbal Battery Practice Questions for the CogAT

Number Analogies

Parent:  Say to your child, “Look at the pictures on top.  They are related to each other in some way mathematically.  Do you see how they are related to each other mathematically?  Now look at the picture in the bottom box?  Look at the answer choices.  Which one is related to the picture in the bottom box the same way the pictures on top are related?”

1.

2.

 

3.

Answers:

1. 2 (each picture on the right is 1 more)
2. 2 (minus 2)
3. 3 (quadruple)

 

Number Puzzles

Parent:  Look at how the first tugboat is pulling a boat with 4 red boxes. Now look at the second tugboat that is pulling 3 boxes. We need to add another boat where the question mark is so the tugboats will be pulling the same number of boxes. Which boat should we add so the second tugboat will be pulling 4 red boxes?

1.

2.

Parent:  Number puzzles also include questions with several empty tugboat cars as in the example below.  Here, you can say, “Do you see how the first tugboat is pulling a tugboat car with red boxes in it?  Now do you see the question marks on the cars pulled by the second tugboat?  Choose the tugboat car on the bottom that you should put where the question marks are so that both tugboats are pulling the same number of red boxes.”

3.

Answers: 2nd choice, 1st choice, 2nd choice

 

Number Series

Parent:  Say to your child, “Look at the picture below.  That is an abacus.  The beads in the first 5 rods form a pattern or follow a rule.  The bead in the 6^th rod are missing.  Can you choose the rod that goes in the 6^th place that would complete the pattern or follow the rule?”

1.

2.

3.

Answers:

1. 3 (1,2,1,2,1,2)
2. 2 (0, 2, 4, 6, 4, 2)
3. 4 (2, 6, 3, 5, 4, 4)

 

NONVERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Figure Matrices

Parent:  Say to your child: “Look at the 2 figures on top.  They go together in some way.  Look at the figure in the bottom box and then look at the 4 answer choices.  Choose the answer that goes with the figure on the bottom the same way the figures on top go together.”

1.

2.

3.

Answers:

1. 4 (same)
2. 4 (inside figure and outside figure change places)
3. 1 (moves clockwise by 15 minutes)

 

NONVERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Paper Folding 

Parent:  Say to your child: “Look at the picture across the top (rows).  It shows a piece of square paper being folded.  Then, one or more holes are punched in the folded piece of paper.  Can you point to the answer that shows what the square piece of paper will look like when it is unfolded?”

1.

2.

3.

Answers: 2, 2, 4

 

NONVERBAL BATTERY (Levels 5/6 – 8)

Figure Classification

Parent:  Say to your child: “Look at the figures on top.  They are alike in some way and so they belong together.  Choose one picture from the bottom row that belongs with the figures on top.”

1.

2.

3.

Answers:

1. 1 (one shape is black, one is white)
2. 1 (all have the same inside shape)
3. 1 (8 sides)

 

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 9 – 17/18)

Verbal Analogies

Parent:  Say to your child: “The first two words go together in a certain way.  Choose the answer that goes with the third word in the sentence the same way that the first and second words go together.”

1. Ear is to head as toe is to ________.

A. leg    B. walk    C. foot      D. hand        E. stand

 

2. Woman is to man as doe is to _______.

A. animal    B. deer     C. bow    D. buck          E. row

 

3. Intimidate is to encourage as inspire is to _______.

A. think        B. help      C. inside     D. motivate  E. discourage

 

Answers:  C, D, E

 

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 9 – 17/18)

Sentence Completion

Parent:  Say to your child, “Choose the word that best completes the sentence below.”

 

1. My mom received a _______ card on her birthday.

A. humorous      B. sad      C. sympathy       D. sour         E. harsh

 

 

2. Millions of dollars were _______ on weapons during the war.

A.prevented      B. avoided      C. rescued      D. guarded    E. squandered

 

 

3. After my grandfather died, my family was there to _______ each other.

A. console        B. vex          C. approve         D. sympathy       E. assuage

Answers: A, E, A

 

VERBAL BATTERY (Levels 9 – 17/18)

Verbal Classification

Parent:  Say to your child, “The first 3 words in each question are alike in some way.  Choose one word from the selection of 5 that goes with the first 3 words in the same way.”

 

1. television            computer                  radio

A. games      B. play      C. electric       D. telephone         E. battery

 

2. grasp                   hold                            possess

A. spend       B. free        C. lose            D. clutch              E. unfasten

 

 

3. barley                   wheat                        rye

 

A. cereal      B. grains      C. oat           D. food                 E. pasta

 

 

Answers: D (electronic device), D (synonym), C (type of grain)

 

Questions like the ones you’ve just seen are some of the most common questions you will find on cognitive and intelligence tests.  At www.TestingMom.com, we have thousands of questions at every level of difficulty from the most-given tests.  Instead of purchasing a practice workbook with a limited number of questions, join www.TestingMom.com and access thousands of practice questions that will prepare your child for the CogAT and any other test he is taking.  Our questions can be printed out or answered on line.  Top 1% members can also access our practice questions via computer games, ipad and mobile apps! 

*To see how many of each type of question is given at each level, visit http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/cogAT7/time.html. You may also enjoy visiting http://www.riversidepublishing.com/products/cogAT7/content.html.

At www.TestingMom.com, we have thousands of questions at every level of difficulty from the most-given tests.  Instead of purchasing a practice workbook with a limited number of questions, join www.TestingMom.com and access thousands of practice questions that will prepare your child for the CogAT and any other test he is taking.  Our questions can be printed out or answered on line.  Top 1% members can also access our practice questions via computer games, ipad and mobile apps!

Cognitive Abilities Test™ (CogAT®) is a registered trademark owned by Houghton Mifflin Company and published by Riverside Publishing, a Houghton Mifflin Company. Houghton Mifflin Company and Riverside Publishing are not affiliated with TestingMom.com, nor were they involved in the creation, production and do not endorse or sponsor these practice questions. Trademarks referring to specific test providers are used by TestingMom.com for nominative purposes only: such trademarks are solely the property of their respective owners.