Brush up on some new skills this back to school season with our latest additions in elementary school language arts and math, and middle school social studies! Continue reading to learn more about our newest skills, then head to IXL to try them out yourself.
New language arts skills
We’ve released 20 new skills for grade 2 focused on writing strategies! The skills cover topic sentences, facts vs. opinions, descriptive details, and more. We also added a new skill for grade 3 on idiomatic expressions! Check out some examples below and then explore the skills on IXL.
Add descriptive details to sentences
In this skill, budding writers practice expanding sentences by adding descriptive details. Students will encounter a sentence and a fun illustration and will be asked to add more details to match the picture.
Choose topic sentences for expository paragraphs
This skill helps students review text and select the best topic sentence to introduce the information in the paragraph.
Identify the purpose of a text
This skill provides students with examples of real-life text to determine its main purpose. By evaluating advertisements, brochures, newspaper articles or websites, students will learn that authors write for specific and varied purposes!
Language arts skill codes & new navigation
We’re also excited to share that our language arts page has a brand new look! To make it easier for you to find the skills you need we’ve organized our content into the following categories: reading foundations, reading strategies, writing, vocabulary, and grammar and mechanics. Our skills codes have changed as a result, and you can view all of the updates here!
New social studies skills
Our latest release features five social studies skills for grades 6-8 covering human geography and U.S. history. See some examples below, then practice the new skills on IXL!
Region profile: West and Central Africa
This skill adds to our existing country and region profiles and lets students explore the regions of West and Central Africa. Students will encounter detailed maps and captivating photographs that introduce them to the economic, cultural, and geographic features of the regions.
Industrialization in the Gilded Age
Students access textual and visual sources to learn about the technological, economic, and political changes that resulted from industrialization in the U.S.
New math skill
For grade 1 math, we’ve split the Interpret bar graphs skill into two separate skills. Check out the skill and find more math problems to explore on IXL!
Will you be trying out these new skills this back to school season? Share with us in the comments below!
