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CogAT (Cognitive Abilities Test) Level E


The recommendations below are for the typical gifted child taking CogAT Level E in seventh grade.  If your child has areas of particular strength or weakness then you may wish to adjust up or down a level.  If you're planning ahead (thinking about testing next year for a sixth grader, for example) you may also need to consider staring at a lower level in some of these series and working towards the level recommended here.  If you'd like recommendations for your situation please email or phone with some information about your child and we'd be happy to make suggestions.
 
For most children Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural, Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal and Cranium Crackers will be the place to start.  Add other titles depending on your child's relative strengths and weaknesses in the different areas of testing, what they'd enjoy doing and what you've got time for.  For each of the titles below you can get more information including a look inside at sample pages by clicking on "more info" after the brief product description.

The CogAT is a test of reasoning skills.  It’s not like a spelling or a math test where if you know the words or the facts you can get 100% and there is little advantage is learning more difficult words or practicing more difficult math problems.  There is no defined curriculum for the CogAT.  An average child in seventh grade would not be expected to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the CogAT.  That's why the list below includes titles that are notionally for higher grades.  A child who has prepared at this higher level is more likely to be able to answer the most difficult questions on the test.
 
The CogAT has three sections each with three subtests.  Your preparation should cover verbal, non-verbal and quantitative analysis.


Building Thinking Skills Level 3 is our number one recommendation.  This comprises two books at a Gr 7-12 level covering verbal and nonverbal reasoning. 


The third set of subtests in the CogAT is the quantitative battery.  For this we have four recommendations.  Cranium Crackers are outside the box extension math activities.  The quantitative analysis battery in the CogAT is not about math per se but rather about understanding quantitative relationships and how numbers can be manipulated.  Cranium Crackers will get your child thinking about math in different ways and prepare them for the type of thinking they will need to do to solve CogAT problems. 

 

Brain Stretchers is another possibility for the CogAT Quantitative Battery.  Brain Stretchers contains a section specifically on sequencing and another on algebraic reasoning (two of the three quantitative subtests).  The reminder of the book contains a collection of traditional and non-traditional logic and math problems. 
 
Cranium Crackers and Brain Stretchers are good choices if your child is very good at math.  If you have doubts about your child's understanding then Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis is a good choice.  This is a complete compressed math curriculum.  It has more math than you need but it teaches the type of reasoning that the CogAT is looking for.  Book 2 is for Gr 4-8.  Remember that is the reasoning behind the problems which is important, not the computation.
 

Mathematical Reasoning through Verbal Analysis has a separate instructor/answer guide with both the solutions and discussion points  The student book does not contain any answers.  For the CogAT it is this reasoning that is important and for busy parents it’s nice to have discussion points and vocabulary laid out.


For children who prefer software Math Blockout is an option.  Math Blockout teaches algebraic analysis which is one of the subtests on the quantitative battery.  It is a very simple program providing practice with equation building.  Since it only teaches algebraic analysis it is unlikely to be sufficient on its own.


Think Ahead Games is another option for students who prefer software.  As with Math Blockout the skill coverage is relevant but limited.  Students find a path through a grid by matching game board pieces by color or size.  Among the skills built are sequencing, classifying and recognizing patterns.  These are all tested for in the nonverbal subtests of the CogAT.


Verbal Analogies are covered in the last chapter of  Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal.  Think Analogies explains how different types of analogies work in detail and provides more examples.  This is particularly important for children who do not have American English as their first language.  They may miss some subtleties in verbal analogies without additional practice.  Thinkanalogy Puzzles (software) provides the same material in a more interactive format.


We always recommend Mind Benders for any multi-choice test.  These are deductive logic puzzles.  This is the skill you use in multi-choice testing to eliminate (a) and (b) as impossible even though you don’t know the answer thereby improving the chance of guessing correctly.  They are also great for practicing the type of reading required for multi-choice testing where every word matters.  Many able children skim read.  For testing they need to practice slowing down and taking account of every word.  A3 would be a good place to start if your student has never done any deductive logic puzzles but B1 is the level you'd want them at prior to testing.  There are 14 titles in this series so plenty of opportunity to provide your child with lots of practice if they need and/or enjoy these activities.
 
Finally we've included two traditional test preparation titles in the list below.  If your child hasn't had a lot of experience taking standardized tests it can be helpful to expose them to this prior to testing.  Spectrum Test Prep is a traditional test preparation book written for parents.  Spectrum Test Practice contains additional practice tests.  Spectrum Test Prep has less background information (like get a good night sleep and eat breakfast) and more practice tests.  The format of the practice tests in the Test Prep title is more that of real tests including bubble sheets.  Remember that these are traditional test preparation books.  The questions test areas like reading comprehension and mathematics skills.  They were not written for the CogAT.
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Think Ahead Games software
Think Ahead! Games Software
Our Price: $18.99

Grade(s): 3-12+
Activities: unlimited

Think Ahead Games strengthens skills in sequencing, classifying, comparing/contrasting, evaluating alternatives, generating solutions, and recognizing patterns. Using either figures or numbers, students practice their mental mapping ability in order to outmaneuver their opponent. Adjustable difficulty settings make the software fun and challenging for kids and adults.
Mind Benders: A3
Mind Benders A3
Our Price: $9.99

Grade(s): 3-6
Activities: 14
Pages: 30

Deductive reasoning puzzles teach children logic and improve reading comprehension and test scores.
Challenge Math
Challenge Math
Our Price: $23.95

Grade(s): 4-9
Pages: 429

Challenge Math provides enrichment math activities and develops student problem solving skills. Over 1000 problems at three levels of difficulty to challenge even the brightest students.
Mathematical Reasoning Book 2, Student
Mathematical Reasoning Book 2, Student
Our Price: $24.99

Grade(s): 4-8
Activities: 283
Pages: 296

Mathematical Reasoning™ helps your child devise strategies to solve a wide variety of math problems. These books emphasize problem solving and computation to build the math reasoning skills necessary for success in higher level math and math assessments.
Instruction/Answer Guide is sold separately.
Mathematical Reasoning Book 2. Teacher
Mathematical Reasoning Book 2, Parent
Our Price: $13.99

Grade(s): 4-8
Activities: 283

Instruction/Answer Guide includes concept overviews, answers, and focus questions that lead students to think mathematically as they verbalize the steps of working through concrete and abstract processes.
Brain Stretchers Book 1
Brain Stretchers Book 1
Our Price: $10.99

Grade(s): 5-9
Activities: 32
Pages: 75

Brain Stretchers gets students excited about strengthening their core math skills, logical thinking, and problem solving.

These activities teach numeric and geometric concepts using fun charts, pictures, grids, figures, and word problems. Your students will ask to do these math activities every day! Answers included.
Gruber's Test Guide Gr 6
Gruber's Essential Guide to Test Taking Grades 6-9
Our Price: $12.99

This title unlocks essential test taking skills which can be used to excel in testing.  A must for anyone helping children understand the important thinking strategies in all test taking areas and help them increase their test scores and learn more effectively.
Think Analogies B1
Think Analogies B1
Our Price: $11.99

Grade(s): 6-8
Activities: 49
Pages: 56

Think Analogies® clearly, easily, and effectively teaches students how to analyze and classify analogies by relationship, category, and structure.
ThinkAnalogy Puzzles B software
ThinkAnalogy Puzzles B Software
Our Price: $21.99

Grade(s): 6-8
Activities: 20


ThinkAnalogy® Puzzles is a fun, engaging program that helps students truly understand the basis of an analogy. These activities develop razor-sharp analogy, vocabulary, word analysis, and comprehension skills for the highest academic and test performance.

In each activity students analyze 30 potential analogy pairs, evaluate word meanings and relationships to find the best matches, then classify each analogy by type. The deeper analysis required to classify an analogy produces a better understanding of analogies and develops a host of critical thinking skills.
Scratch Your Brain C1
Scratch Your Brain C1
Our Price: $15.99

Grade(s): 6-8
Activities: 118
Pages: 88

Scratch Your Brain® contains a variety of engaging, often humorous activities, puzzles, patterns, sequences, writing multi-step solutions, and more. It also encourages brainstorming and teaches students there is usually more than one way to solve a problem. Activities are sequenced by difficulty throughout each chapter to allow students to gradually build their skills.
Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural
Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Figural
Our Price: $29.99

Grade(s): 7-12+
Activities: 259
Pages: 280

Building Thinking Skills®provides highly effective nonverbal reasoning activities to improve vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural-spatial skills, as well as visual and auditory processing. This exceptional skill set provides a solid foundation for academic excellence and success on any assessment test.
Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal
Building Thinking Skills Level 3 Verbal
Our Price: $29.99

Grade(s): 7-12+
Activities: 350
Pages: 384

Building Thinking Skills®provides highly effective verbal and nonverbal reasoning activities to improve vocabulary, reading, writing, math, logic, and figural-spatial skills, as well as visual and auditory processing. This exceptional skill set provides a solid foundation for academic excellence and success on any assessment test.
Mind Benders: B1
Mind Benders B1
Our Price: $9.99

Grade(s): 7-12+
Activities: 14
Pages: 32

Deductive reasoning puzzles teach children logic and improve reading comprehension and test scores.
Cranium Crackers, Book 3
Cranium Crackers Book 3
Our Price: $19.99

Grade(s): 7-8
Activities: 301
Pages: 224

An awesome, outside the box, collection of math problems by the author of Mind Benders.
Spectrum Test Prep Grades 8
Spectrum Test Prep Grade 8
Our Price: $9.99

Boosts confidence and helps learners improve test scores by offering children the preparation they need for standardized tests.