Earning Awards

One of the things that makes practicing math with IXL so much fun is the chance to win prizes and complete your game board.

With the game board, students can track their prizes and take on challenges in a fun way that makes practicing math as good as any game. Each grade or level has a different theme, and the game boards are individualized, meaning no two students will have the same game board!

Parents and teachers can view student awards and current challenges. They cannot reveal new prizes.

IXL also displays a summary of student accomplishments alongside the game board.

Viewing the game board

To view the game board, go to the Awards tab and select the appropriate grade or level. Parents with more than one child, and teachers, must also select a student.

Note: You can choose to view all grades or levels, which is useful if a student has completed work in more than one. In this case, IXL will display a summary of accomplishments, but no game board.

For a description of the game board square types and challenge types, see the sections below.

The game board displays all prizes that have already been earned and all squares won but not yet revealed. If you are a student, you can reveal these new prizes by clicking on the squares. You can also view all current challenges by holding your mouse over an unlocked square. IXL will display the challenge in a pop-up, along with a link to the related math practice, where appropriate.

Game board squares

The game board displays the following kinds of squares:

Blank - The square is locked. The student cannot see it or see the challenge associated with it yet. Locked squares transform into unlocked squares as students progress.
Question mark - The square is unlocked and you can view the challenge by holding your mouse over it. IXL presents students with several different types of challenges, including those based on skills mastery and system usage. For more information, see the section below.
Highlighted - The student has successfully completed the challenge associated with the square and can click on it to reveal the prize. Prizes are special icons that are part of the theme for the selected grade level.
Bonus - Some squares are offered as bonus prizes. You can click on them to reveal the prize, as you would for a highlighted square. Bonus squares are displayed randomly when you complete another challenge on your game board.
Prize icon - The student has successfully completed the challenge associated with the square and has already revealed the prize.

Challenge types

As mentioned above, IXL designs challenges based on several factors, including the following:

Mastery of a specific number of skills.
Time spent practicing math with IXL.
Completion of certain quantities of problems.
Completion of rows and columns on the game board.
Mastery of multiple skills in a specific category.
Mastery of several specific skills.
IXL labels skills with an identifying number scheme, such as J.4, which makes it easy for you to locate the skills you need to master.

Cool feature!

Students can choose to use one of their prize icons as their profile icon, which will appear beside their username at the top-right of the screen. And it's really easy to set up. Just go to the Awards tab and choose a prize icon, then click and drag it to the upper-right area of the screen where your username is displayed. When you release the mouse button, IXL sets the prize icon you selected as your new profile icon.

Note: If your account is part of a family membership, you can also select a profile icon from the IXL gallery, or upload one, in the Profiles and settings window. However, you cannot select a prize icon in that window.

Need more help? If you still have questions, contact us at 855-255-8800, or e-mail your question to help@ixl.com.