Hi,
We are Sally and Amanda from Guinea Pig Education. We present a range of complimentary teaching aids and workbooks to use in your classroom or as homework – in both print and digital format.
We aim to raise reading standards and to develop literacy skills, with our ‘fun for kids’ phonic reading resources.
We also offer support for pupils aged 4-16 years. We highly recommend our comprehension and creative writing resources - which build confidence and develop imagination.
Hi,
We are Sally and Amanda from Guinea Pig Education. We present a range of complimentary teaching aids and workbooks to use in your classroom or as homework – in both print and digital format.
We aim to raise reading standards and to develop literacy skills, with our ‘fun for kids’ phonic reading resources.
We also offer support for pupils aged 4-16 years. We highly recommend our comprehension and creative writing resources - which build confidence and develop imagination.
A series of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment.
Although not strictly timed, the test should take about 20 mins.
Each test includes questions that may cover:
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
sentences, statements, questions, commands and exclamations
conjunctions (and, or, but, when, if, that, because)
past and present tense
prefixes and suffixes
full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
capital letters to start a sentence, for names of people, places, days of the week and for the personal pronoun.
commas to separate items in a list
apostrophes
These tests are based on the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
A series of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment.
Although not strictly timed, the test should take about 20 mins.
Each test includes questions that may cover:
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
sentences, statements, questions, commands and exclamations
conjunctions (and, or, but, when, if, that, because)
past and present tense
prefixes and suffixes
full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
capital letters to start a sentence, for names of people, places, days of the week and for the personal pronoun.
commas to separate items in a list
apostrophes
These tests are based on the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
A series of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment.
Although not strictly timed, the test should take about 20 mins.
Each test includes questions that may cover:
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
sentences, statements, questions, commands and exclamations
conjunctions (and, or, but, when, if, that, because)
past and present tense
prefixes and suffixes
full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
capital letters to start a sentence, for names of people, places, days of the week and for the personal pronoun.
commas to separate items in a list
apostrophes
These tests are based on the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
A series of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment.
Although not strictly timed, the test should take about 20 mins.
Each test includes questions that may cover:
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
sentences, statements, questions, commands and exclamations
conjunctions (and, or, but, when, if, that, because)
past and present tense
prefixes and suffixes
full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
capital letters to start a sentence, for names of people, places, days of the week and for the personal pronoun.
commas to separate items in a list
apostrophes
These tests are based on the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
Prompts For Writing A Persuasive Leaflet (GCSE English Writing Work Pack)
This pack includes four prompts for GCSE creative writing. The form is to produce a leaflet. The purpose is to inform and persuade. The intended audience is parents or people looking for self catering holiday accommodation. There are four examples included, plus two pages on how the student should structure their work and the use of literary techniques
These work packs provide essential creative writing practice for the new GCSE English exam. They will help GCSE students prepare for their exam, whether they are students in years 9, 10 or 11. The packs provide practise in different forms of writing, for example, articles, blogs and letters.
These resources help students to write in a tone appropriate to purpose and audience. They instruct the student how to write from different perspectives or viewpoints and present a balanced argument. As well as, using appropriate tone and language. For example, learning to use: formal or informal register, language devices like rhetoric and groups of three and punctuation, such as variation of sentences for effect.
A series of grammar, punctuation and vocabulary progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment.
Although not strictly timed, the test should take about 20 mins.
Each test includes questions that may cover:
nouns, verbs, adjectives and adverbs
sentences, statements, questions, commands and exclamations
conjunctions (and, or, but, when, if, that, because)
past and present tense
prefixes and suffixes
full stops, question marks and exclamation marks
capital letters to start a sentence, for names of people, places, days of the week and for the personal pronoun.
commas to separate items in a list
apostrophes
These tests are based on the grammar, punctuation and vocabulary tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
A series of spelling progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment in spelling.
Each test consists of 20 target words, presented within 20 distinct sentences, read by an adult to the children from a script. Although not strictly timed, it should take about 15 mins.
The words have been carefully chosen to suit the requirements of the English National Curriculum. These tests are based on the spelling tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
Spellings may include:
endings like ff, ll, ss, zz, ck, -tch,
consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th)
words ending in y
vowel digraphs and trigraphs
soft c (ce, ci, cy) and soft g (ge, gi, gy)
adding -s and -es at the end of words to form plurals
adding -ing, -ed, -er, -est to words
words ending in -ge, -dge, -tion, -ture, -le, -el, -al
days of the week
compound words
tricky sounds like -igh, -ough, -augh, -ch, -ph, -que, -gue, -ine
long u
i before e except after c
silent letters
suffixes
prefixes
homophones
common exception words
A series of spelling progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment in spelling.
Each test consists of 20 target words, presented within 20 distinct sentences, read by an adult to the children from a script. Although not strictly timed, it should take about 15 mins.
The words have been carefully chosen to suit the requirements of the English National Curriculum. These tests are based on the spelling tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
Spellings may include:
endings like ff, ll, ss, zz, ck, -tch,
consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th)
words ending in y
vowel digraphs and trigraphs
soft c (ce, ci, cy) and soft g (ge, gi, gy)
adding -s and -es at the end of words to form plurals
adding -ing, -ed, -er, -est to words
words ending in -ge, -dge, -tion, -ture, -le, -el, -al
days of the week
compound words
tricky sounds like -igh, -ough, -augh, -ch, -ph, -que, -gue, -ine
long u
i before e except after c
silent letters
suffixes
prefixes
homophones
common exception words
A series of spelling progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment in spelling.
Each test consists of 20 target words, presented within 20 distinct sentences, read by an adult to the children from a script. Although not strictly timed, it should take about 15 mins.
The words have been carefully chosen to suit the requirements of the English National Curriculum. These tests are based on the spelling tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
Spellings may include:
endings like ff, ll, ss, zz, ck, -tch,
consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th)
words ending in y
vowel digraphs and trigraphs
soft c (ce, ci, cy) and soft g (ge, gi, gy)
adding -s and -es at the end of words to form plurals
adding -ing, -ed, -er, -est to words
words ending in -ge, -dge, -tion, -ture, -le, -el, -al
days of the week
compound words
tricky sounds like -igh, -ough, -augh, -ch, -ph, -que, -gue, -ine
long u
i before e except after c
silent letters
suffixes
prefixes
homophones
common exception words
A series of spelling progress tests for children aged 6-7 years. These tests can be used to assess a child’s individual attainment in spelling.
Each test consists of 20 target words, presented within 20 distinct sentences, read by an adult to the children from a script. Although not strictly timed, it should take about 15 mins.
The words have been carefully chosen to suit the requirements of the English National Curriculum. These tests are based on the spelling tests given to 7 year olds in the Year 2 SATs.
Spellings may include:
endings like ff, ll, ss, zz, ck, -tch,
consonant digraphs (sh, ch, th)
words ending in y
vowel digraphs and trigraphs
soft c (ce, ci, cy) and soft g (ge, gi, gy)
adding -s and -es at the end of words to form plurals
adding -ing, -ed, -er, -est to words
words ending in -ge, -dge, -tion, -ture, -le, -el, -al
days of the week
compound words
tricky sounds like -igh, -ough, -augh, -ch, -ph, -que, -gue, -ine
long u
i before e except after c
silent letters
suffixes
prefixes
homophones
common exception words
Introduces consonant digraphs, sh, ch, th, and words ending in y (3 years +)
How To Use The Pre Reader Work Packs
At Guinea Pig Education we believe children do not need to spend years learning reading skills; this innovative new scheme teaches children to read in just six months to a year.
A non reader should start with our pre reading material. The Pre reader work packs use phonics or the sounds in words. The child can learn a series of phonic sounds, which give him or her a ‘tool’ to work out nearly 80% of words in the English language. The other 20% of words will be learnt by looking and saying the words.
In these packs, the child (or group of children) will be taught to recognise initial sounds as in ‘b’, ‘d’ and vowel sounds as in ‘a’ - c…a…t. They will practise running sounds together to make words. The sentence maker will help him or her to organise the words into sentences.
The packs are easy to use with clear instructions, for the adult to use with a child (or group of children).
The structured material encourages the child to practise word building and sentence making using phonic sounds. To make learning a really fun experience, the material contains word games, like snap and bingo. The child (children) can move on when the adult is confident the sounds have been learnt.
Learn To Read With Phonics Pre Reader packs are designed to start children reading who have not done any reading before. They are a starting point for learning to read with phonics. Children can start at three or four, if they are ready to concentrate.
The Pre Reader packs introduce the 26 sounds of the alphabet, the skills of sounding out words with phonics and blending phonic sounds to make three and four letter words. The child (children) should practise the material each day and move on only when the child is familiar with the material. The course is structured. Each new sound builds on the one that went before.
Tell the child (children) to personalise the drawings, adding to them, using their own ideas. Play the games. Repeat the exercises many times until they know the words. They should have fun learning to read.
3 pages
Write A Play/Radio Script
GCSE English Writing Work Packs save time when preparing lessons at GCSE. The specimen lesson plans and examples contained within each work pack, will give your students ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. The examples contained in each pack, show the student the standard of work they need to reach to do well in exams like GCSE. They will learn how to tackle a question to get those higher marks.
GCSE English Writing Work Packs include:
Practice in writing for different purposes and to reach different audiences
Practice in writing from different points of view, including articles, blogs, brochures and leaflets
Practice in different ways to set out an argument (PEE or PEA).
They will also examine language techniques
Write a story called ‘The Day I Met A Dinosaur’. Read the example and use your imagination to write your own version. There is a planning sheet included to jot down ideas on character, setting and plot.
An essential series of themed prompts to help children aged 9-12 years to practise their creative writing skills for 11 plus entry exams or S.A.T.S. The packs include an outline to help the child plan his or her own story, article, letter or play script and examples to build on, using harder more challenging vocabulary to stretch more able pupils.
6 pages
Read the information leaflet about getting a pet. The child is asked to write their own version, persuading pet lovers to get a kitten. They can use the prompts to help them get started. They must remember to use good adjectives in their description, to use alliteration and repetition of initial letter sounds, to form persuasive phrases like ‘cutest cuddliest kitten…’
Next, the child should read ‘New Home’ and write their own persuasive appeal, encouraging people to give money to a charity that helps sick or abandoned animals.
This lesson will take approximately 1 hour.
This resource is featured in the book ‘We Love Animals: Get Going With Creative Writing’ series.
This series provides prompts to encourage children to write. It provides starting points, to encourage even the most reluctant writers.
Written in a lively magazine style format, each pack provides a step by step guide to teach children how to plan and write an animal themed story.
The packs also provide starting points to write e-mails, letters, play scripts, diaries, reports and other non fiction texts.
The child will learn writing techniques; simple, compound and complex sentences, connectives and spelling, punctuation and grammar tips. There is an emphasis on improving vocabulary - looking at lots of better word choices: harder adjectives, more powerful verbs and adverbs.
This series is recommended for use with children between the ages of 7-11 and provides writing practice for those children preparing to take 11+ examinations or S.A.T.s. The packs will also benefit children with special needs, or where English is a second language.
9 pages
7 pages
These pages help with lesson planning and provide writing prompts, to write an interview between animals. Discuss with the children, ‘if animals could talk, what would they say’. Then, as a follow up activity, the children can think of two animals they know of and write down an imaginary conversation between them. The children can then draw a picture of their animals.
This lesson will take approximately 1 hour.
This resource is featured in the book ‘We Love Animals: Get Going With Creative Writing’ series.
This series provides prompts to encourage children to write. It provides starting points, to encourage even the most reluctant writers.
Written in a lively magazine style format, each pack provides a step by step guide to teach children how to plan and write an animal themed story.
The packs also provide starting points to write e-mails, letters, play scripts, diaries, reports and other non fiction texts.
The child will learn writing techniques; simple, compound and complex sentences, connectives and spelling, punctuation and grammar tips. There is an emphasis on improving vocabulary - looking at lots of better word choices: harder adjectives, more powerful verbs and adverbs.
This series is recommended for use with children between the ages of 7-11 and provides writing practice for those children preparing to take 11+ examinations or S.A.T.s. The packs will also benefit children with special needs, or where English is a second language.
The Monster Near The Bed: Learn Silent Letters (as in numb, solemn and honour)
Learn To Read With Phonics Reading Packs are a quick and easy way to teach children to read in just six months.
They are ideal for all ages (from 4 years plus), especially reluctant older readers of 7, 8, 9+, children with learning difficulties and children where English is a foreign language.
The packs are designed to be used one to one or in small groups with a teacher and child or parent/guardian and child learning together.
The packs consist of a structured course that build 44 phonic sounds into the text. As the children read the adventures of a loveable boy called Sam, they can have fun searching for hidden sounds. They will build up 44 sounds in total. This will enable them to read 80% of words in the English language, by breaking them down into sounds or syllables - pl ay ing. Children using phonics in this way progress fast.
A series of stories, The Bouncing Castle and The Famous Cousin From The Country reinforce the complex middle sounds being learnt. By the end of the scheme, the child will be ready to progress to ‘solo’ reading books, such as Roald Dahl’s ‘Georges Marvellous Medicine’ and ‘Fantastic Mr Fox’.
Many of the packs have cut out practice pages for matching words to pictures and phrases to pictures, to fix the sound words in the child’s memory. The simple text and fun colour sketches, appeal to young readers and have helped the authors to teach many, many children to read.
The reading packs may be used in any order, just pick the pack for the sound you require. However, when using the packs for a complete non reader we suggest you start with packs teaching initial sounds (word building with three or four letter words).
Then move on to learning phonic sounds in this order: ch, sh, wh, th, oo, ee, ar, or, ur, ir, er, magic e, ea, oa, ai, ay, oi, oy, oa, short y (as in happy), long y (as in sky), soft c (as in mice), soft g (as in engine), ou, ow, au and aw.
Next, move onto more complex sounds as in, tion, le, el, ough, gue, que, ine, ue, ie, ei, prefixes and suffixes.
How To Use
Each pack introduces a sound.
Learn the sound with the child/children
Read the sentences or stories several times, encouraging the child/children to talk about the pictures.
At the end of the sentences or story, there is a list of words and phrases, which the child can match to the pictures.
Practise each sound several times, until the child is familiar with it.
4 pages
Download this free booklet, to find out more about our phonic scheme. Click here: https://www.tes.com/teaching-resource/how-do-i-start-my-child-learning-to-read-with-phonics-12412206
3 pages
Tips On Creating Cross References In Poetry
GCSE English Writing Work Packs save time when preparing lessons at GCSE. The specimen lesson plans and examples contained within each work pack, will give your students ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. The examples contained in each pack, show the student the standard of work they need to reach to do well in exams like GCSE. They will learn how to tackle a question to get those higher marks.
GCSE English Writing Work Packs include:
Practice in writing for different purposes and to reach different audiences
Practice in writing from different points of view, including articles, blogs, brochures and leaflets
Practice in different ways to set out an argument (PEE or PEA).
They will also examine language techniques
4 pages
Write To Explain
GCSE English Writing Work Packs save time when preparing lessons at GCSE. The specimen lesson plans and examples contained within each work pack, will give your students ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. The examples contained in each pack, show the student the standard of work they need to reach to do well in exams like GCSE. They will learn how to tackle a question to get those higher marks.
GCSE English Writing Work Packs include:
Practice in writing for different purposes and to reach different audiences
Practice in writing from different points of view, including articles, blogs, brochures and leaflets
Practice in different ways to set out an argument (PEE or PEA).
They will also examine language techniques
4 pages
Write To Advise
GCSE English Writing Work Packs save time when preparing lessons at GCSE. The specimen lesson plans and examples contained within each work pack, will give your students ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. The examples contained in each pack, show the student the standard of work they need to reach to do well in exams like GCSE. They will learn how to tackle a question to get those higher marks.
GCSE English Writing Work Packs include:
Practice in writing for different purposes and to reach different audiences
Practice in writing from different points of view, including articles, blogs, brochures and leaflets
Practice in different ways to set out an argument (PEE or PEA).
They will also examine language techniques
Brush Up On Literary Techniques
Improve Your English Work Packs teach the child good English. They help improve the child’s punctuation, spelling and grammar skills. There are a wide range of packs to choose from, providing practice in sentence writing, use of connectives and parts of speech. The child will also be introduced to literary techniques - similes, metaphors and other stylistic devices.
The format of each pack is so simple. The pages are quick and easy to work through, so the child will learn fast and remember skills taught easily. Each pack includes a lesson plan, with structured exercises, including answer pages. Improve Your English Work Packs save hours of time when preparing lessons or homework tasks.
Included in this series, there are eight structured assessment tests, to test vocabulary, capital letters, punctuation, spelling and use of English language with answers.