Intermediate Cognitive Workouts are written so that intermediate students (~grades 4+) can read and perform them either alone or with a friend or sibling. However, parents and others are welcome to participate as well! To get started, select a cognitive domain below:
Attention Comprehension Executive Functions Language
Learning Memory Sensorimotor Visualspatial
Attention (Click on any title below for worksheet PDF)
General Tips
- Look at the person you are talking to.
- Ask questions during conversations or in class.
- Take notes in every class.
- When doing homework, find a place with few distractions e.g. a quiet place by yourself.
- Break a large task into several smaller ones.
- Take breaks when doing tedious tasks.
- Carry a notebook and keep lists of things you need to do or things you need to remember. Once you have completed the task on the list, check it off the list.
- Use reminders such as notes, objects placed somewhere out of the ordinary, or send voicemail or email messages to yourself.
Comprehension
General Tips
- Re-read stories to improve your understanding.
- Use your own words to summarize what you are reading to make sure you understand.
- Ask yourself questions about things you have read or seen on TV. Example questions are: Why did that happen? What happened first? Where could I find out more about that?
- Ask questions when you are talking with someone.
- Make predictions about the story in a TV show or movie and then see if they are correct.
- Talk with someone else about things you have both read or seen.
- Study in a group.
- Write down instructions when they are given to you.
Executive Functions
General Tips
- Organize your backpack the night before you need it. Look at your schedule or ask an adult to help you remember your schedule. What do you need for tomorrow?
- Use different colored folders for each subject in school e.g. math goes in the blue folder, English in the red folder.
- Make lists of things you need to remember, such as: sports activities, homework assignments, etc. For example, your sports list could include the time and place of the activity and a list of equipment or clothing needed.
- When you are putting away toys, books or clothes, organize the items by type, size, color, etc.
- Label where things belong in your room e.g. pencils, notebooks, pictures, socks, shirts.
- Look out for other people being impulsive. Impulsive behavior might include interrupting others, or not waiting for a turn to do something. If you see people being impulsive, imagine what they could have done that would not have been impulsive.
Language
General Tips
- Find ways to learn new vocabulary words. Look up unfamiliar words in a dictionary or ask an adult to help you use the internet to find out a word’s meaning.
- Try to find ways to use new vocabulary words in conversation or when writing. Pick a word for the week and see if you can find an opportunity to use it.
- Write stories and poems about topics that interest you.
- Keep a journal.
- Join a play or speech team.
- Practice enunciating words clearly when you speak.
- Read what you have written out loud to yourself, to help you revise grammar and punctuation.
Learning
General Tips
Make a study area for yourself:
- Your study area should be comfortable.
- Your study area should be free of interruptions and distractions.
- Study in the same place every day.
- Identify the best time of day for you to study, (e.g. when you get home from school or after dinner).
- Before you begin, collect the materials you will need to study (e.g. pencils, paper, a calculator).
- Study difficult or boring subjects first.
While Studying:
- Think about what you are trying to learn.
- Read directions slowly and carefully.
- Ask an adult for help when you are having trouble.
After Studying:
- Come back to your material later in the day, even if it is only for a few minutes.
- Ask yourself if you can remember the most important information you learned from the last study session you did.
Memory
General Tips
- Create visual images of things you are trying to remember.
- Use mnemonic devices, such as phrases or rhymes that helps you remember a list.
- Make associations between things that happen together or things that are at the same place or time. Make associations that are meaningful for you.
- Make lists of things you will need to remember.
- Take notes in class, especially things that your teacher repeats several times.
- Get a proper amount of sleep.
- Organize information that you want to remember (into categories or groups of the same kind of information).
- Think of a humorous phrase or image that you can associate with information you are trying to memorize.
- Use “chunking”. Group items from a long list into smaller chunks and try to remember each chunk.
- Test yourself or review the information frequently.
Sensorimotor
General Tips
- Join a sports team or play active sports or games such as “tag” with friends.
- Play or learn to play a musical instrument.
- Play “jacks”.
- Dance to music.
- Go swimming.
- Paint or draw pictures.
- Use a pencil grip to make the pencil or pen more comfortable for your hand.
- Practice writing neatly.
- Practice typing skills.
- Use three tennis balls and learn to juggle.
- Bounce a ball as many times as you can.
Visualspatial
General Tips
- Do jigsaw puzzles.
- Try and look back and forth several times over the page when reading to make sure you did not miss any information.
- Look around the room/environment to make sure you are aware of all of the surrounding objects.
- Do stereograms (pictures that appear 3-Dimensional), which are available at the library, a local bookstore, or online.
- Do Tavern puzzles (a metal puzzle in which you separate certain pieces), which can be purchased in stores and online.