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.