CogAT lessonsVerbal Battery
CogAT verbal classification
Three words that are alike in some way. Your child picks the word that belongs with them.
What your child sees
Grade 4, a question like this one
week minute second
These three words are alike in some way. Which word goes with them?
- Ashirt
- Balarm
- Cday
- Dpants
- Ewatch
Kindergarten to Grade 2, read aloud
Look at the three pictures in the top row. They are alike in some way. Which picture goes with them?
- A
- B
- C
Show the answer and whyHide the answer
Ask what the three pictures have in common: they are all things you use to eat or cook.
Check each answer picture. A picture that is only used with the group, or found near it, does not belong in it.
Final answer
A fork, because it is also one of the things you use to eat or cook.
Remember
Name the group the three top pictures belong to, as exactly as you can: not just "animals" but "animals that live on a farm".
Up to Grade 2 the three words are three pictures, the directions are read aloud, and there are three pictures to choose from.
Worked example
The same question, one step at a time.
- 1Ask what the three words have in common. Week, minute and second are all units of time.
- 2Be exact about the group. A word that is only linked to the group, like a thing used with it, does not belong in it.
- 3Final answer: day, because it is also one of the units of time.
Common traps
Every wrong choice is built from a mistake children really make.
Linked to the group, but not in it
A watch tells the time, but it is not a unit of time. Be exact about what the three words ARE, not what they go with.
In the example: choices B (alarm) and E (watch).
A word from another group
Some choices come from a group that has nothing to do with the three. They are easy to rule out once the group is named.
In the example: choices A (shirt) and D (pants).
Where it is on the test
Verbal classification is one of the three parts of the Verbal Battery. Up to Grade 2 it is a picture version, read aloud with no time limit.
| Grade | Part | Questions | Time |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kindergarten (Level 5/6) | Picture classification | 14 | No time limit |
| Grade 1 (Level 7) | Picture classification | 16 | No time limit |
| Grade 2 (Level 8) | Picture classification | 18 | No time limit |
| Grade 3 (Level 9) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 4 (Level 10) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 5 (Level 11) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 6 (Level 12) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 7 (Level 13/14) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
| Grade 8 (Level 13/14) | Verbal classification | 20 | 10 minutes |
Counts and times are Riverside Insights’ published figures.
Try it
Ten free Verbal Battery questions, new every time, with the score at the end. You will be asked to make a free account.
The other parts of the Verbal Battery
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