Last month’s top 10 primary downloads

1. 50 new class ideas

From games such as People Bingo to wall displays of “Friendship Gardens” or “Dream Trees”, this collection of 50 ideas for meeting your new class will help to get the school year off to a good start.

2. Passport to Year X

Ask children to list their aspirations and targets for the forthcoming term or academic year on a passport template.

3. Classroom play

One of the biggest assets a teacher can have is a good stock of games to use in class. Make your classroom a happy one with these multi-purpose activities.

4. All about me

Find out about the students in your class - and make them feel at home - by encouraging them to write about themselves and the things they love in this “All About Me” booklet.

5. New beginnings

How can children make sure their classroom is a fair place for learning and playing? Get them to produce a class charter - and make a promise.

6. Red-hot sentences

Encourage students to make their writing more lively and powerful by using different connectives - and perfect punctuation - in this literacy lesson.

7. Quick-fire activities

Use this selection of quick-fire activities - as lesson starters or as five-minute time fillers - to encourage children to think about vocabulary, connectives, openings and punctuation.

8. Phonics fun

Develop children’s early phonemegrapheme and initial sound-recognition skills with these games and activities.

9. Lateral thinking

How many times can you subtract 3 from 39? What can be seen in the middle of March and April that cannot be seen at the end of either? Teach students the art of lateral thinking.

10. Jigsaw puzzle

See how well your students fit together as they create jigsaw pieces about themselves and combine them to form a whole-class puzzle.

Find these lesson plans at bit.lyTop10Primary July2013

Last month’s top 10 secondary downloads

1. Equal opportunities

Is everyone treated the same? Do we change our behaviour depending on the person we are with? Ask students to think about equal opportunities as part of laying down ground rules for the class.

2. Team building

Get your students to work as a team by challenging them to build a wigwam, construct a roller coaster out of newspaper or make a paper platform that can hold two bricks.

3. Icebreakers

Activities such as Fear in a Hat, Call My Bluff, and Unique and Shared will help you to get to know your class.

4. Quiz time

What is round, white and laughs a lot? Why did the farmer feed his pigs salt and vinegar? Test your students’ riddling and joking skills with this unusual quiz.

5. Strengths and weaknesses

How do your students think they work best? Ask them to reflect on their strengths, weaknesses, dreams and aspirations by filling in this questionnaire.

6. Discussion toolkit

Build students’ conversational skills with this discussion toolkit, full of activities and ideas to fuel a classroom debate.

7. Facebook template

Engage your students by getting them to create profiles with this realistic Facebook template, which includes a timeline.

8. Body language flash cards

Get moving with these body language flash cards. Ideal for a lesson on non-verbal communication or for teaching about theatre shows and mime.

9. Codebreaking

Why study codes? Find out with this resource about everything from hidden pictures in binary strings to the mathematics behind credit card numbers.

10. Grammar basics

Start the new term as you mean to go on with these “desk drawer” grammar flash cards covering punctuation, tenses and more.

Find these lesson plans at bit.lyTop10SecJuly2013

1. Back to school

Get ready for the new school year with Mayer-Johnson’s pack of symbol-supported resources, including number and alphabet charts, a timetable and labels to help new students find their way around. bit.lyBacktoSchoolpack

2. Remember the ABCs

Try bevevans22 ‘s clear alphabet cards with supporting pictures - an apple for A and a balloon for B, for example. Ideal for children with special needs and those learning the alphabet for the first time. bit.lyRememberABCs

3. This is me

Save time, and ensure that you get all the information you need about new students from parents and carers by using jovest ‘s communication passport, with categories such as “My family” and “Things I like”. bit.lyThisIsMeinfo

Noticeboard

Song and dance l From Wales’ Green Man to Flow in Finland and Dimensions in Croatia, this summer festival guide has something for everyone. bit.lyFestival Guide2013

Join the club l Take part in Cheltenham Festivals’ monthly book club, either in person at the live book group in the South West of England, or by sharing your thoughts online. This month’s book is Stoner by John Williams. bit.lyFestival BookClub

Rise for the Ashes l Suffering from post-Wimbledon blues? Get your next sporting fix from cricket with this guide to the Ashes. And for a chance to win tickets, make your run prediction for your chosen team. bit.lyAshesGuide.