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.
Between the ages of 9 and 12, children have to complete Standardised.Assessment.Tests (Sats). To help them practise for these tests, we have produced a new series of comprehension booklets. The Standards and Testing Agency states that the child has 1 hour to complete the test, answering the questions in the answer booklet. Read one text and answer the questions about that text, before moving onto the next text. There are three texts and three sets of questions in each booklet.
The tests in this booklet are based on the KS2 Reading Assessment sample papers. It is important to try and complete them in an hour, but it is your choice. The more tests you practise the quicker you will get.
43 pages
Browse our website, to view our full range of educational resources.
Information Writing work packs are essential for all students wanting to develop their literacy skills and improve their grades in English assignments and examinations.
Information Writing work packs concentrate specifically on information writing, providing everything needed to stimulate a child to write. The child is taught to recognise the difference between facts and opinions. Each pack in this series concentrates on a different aspect of information writing including: writing to advise, writing to inform, writing to explain, writing to analyse, review and comment, giving examples. The child is taught how a newspaper article is structured, how to write formal and informal letters, diaries, police reports, e-mails, biographies, autobiographies, interviews, book reviews and many more.
The work packs contain starting point for writing, helping the child to form ideas, enabling him or her to structure their work and organise it into paragraphs. Attention is given to making writing more interesting by varying sentence types, using punctuation and good grammar.
Each work pack includes an exciting range of model answers and sample texts written by students and provides practice questions to test them. Common errors made by students are highlighted and corrected. They are packed with vital hints and tips to enable the student to be successful and gain good grades.
The packs are a very useful resource for teachers and save hours of time when preparing lessons or homework tasks. The specimen lesson plans and examples contained within each work pack will give the student ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. Each work pack provides children with ideas for writing, especially reluctant writers who require starting points to write. Each work pack provides a safe topic that children will be comfortable with.
15 pages
This resource shows children how to structure and develop a story. First, the child reads the story ‘Lost’. Then, they are shown an outline of how the story was planned – the characters, setting and plot. Secondly, they are shown the content of each paragraph: the beginning paragraph (setting the scene), the middle paragraph (recounting a series of events that build up suspense) and the ending (the way the story is resolved). The child should use what they have learnt, to write the same story. A series of unfinished sentences are provided to help them.
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
The “Looking Back: Victorian Social Class” resource is an informative and interactive teaching tool for children aged 8-13. This pack is perfect for reinforcing key historical skills and helping children acquire important knowledge about the three main classes in Victorian Britain: the upper class, the middle class, and the working class.
Content:
This resource contains a total of 22 pages and will teach children how to tell the difference between the upper, middle and lower class. Children will get to read two fascinating imaginary interviews that are based on stories and accounts written at the time. These will help explain how the class divide affected Victorian life. They will study census records and decide which class the highlighted people belong to; and learn how the social class system can be illustrated as a pyramid. Finally, children will be asked to explain and interpret an illustration drawn in the nineteenth century by studying the picture and answering the questions. This pack is rich in detail and all the information is presented in a fun and engaging manner, surrounded by colourful illustrations.
In Conclusion
This workbook is designed to help support your children as they explore the Victorian era, deepen their understanding of this historical time period, and ignite their interest in history.
This is a digital download and PDF file.
Part 2 of the “Looking Back: Child Labour” resource focuses on children who worked down the coal mines in Victorian Britain. It is an informative and interactive teaching tool for children aged 8-13. This pack is perfect for reinforcing key historical skills and helping children acquire important knowledge about what life was like for the many children who worked in the nineteenth century.
This resource contains a total of 41 pages and covers the topics of: the jobs children did in the coal mines; their hours of work; the treatment of children in the mines; what t was like in a coal mine; the health risks and dangers involved in mining; why children were employed to work in the coal mines; and the Acts of Parliament introduced.
Part 1 of the “Looking Back: Child Labour” resource focuses on children who worked as climbing boys, for master chimney sweeps, in the early nineteenth century. It is an informative and interactive teaching tool for children aged 8-13. This pack is perfect for reinforcing key historical skills and helping children aquire important knowledge about what life was like for children who worked in the Victorian period.
This resource contains a total of 29 pages and covers the topics of: what the job of a climbing boy involved; why children were employed to clean chimneys; the working and living conditions of the child chimney sweeps; and the new Acts of Parliament introduced to improve the lives of child sweeps.
Design a Christmas Jumper
Download, print and cut out the Christmas jumper template from card, paper, fabric, or felt. Then, get creative and design your own novelty patterns. This is a brilliant Christmas craft activity that kids will love making.
Included in this pack are lots of Christmas shapes that you can use for inspiration. Just cut them out, colour them in and stick them on. Alternatively, create your own designs from scratch.
Be inventive: decorate your jumper with sequins, fluffy pom poms, glitter, tinsel, stickers etc. You could even come up with a fun Christmas slogan.
Most importantly, have fun and get in the Christmas Spirit!
8 pages
Learn To Write Different Genres Of Story
In this pack, the child will learn about different genres or types of story and about the techniques writers use to make their reader want to read on. For example, flash backs or dialogue to move a story on.
The child is asked to read the rescue story and to write their own version. A helpful prompt is included, showing the child how to introduce character, setting and plot in paragraph one, develop plot (actions and complications) in paragraph two and build up suspense in paragraph three, ending the story on a happy, sad or cliff hanger ending.
Next, the child should read the ghost story and write their own version. After this, they should make their own thesaurus, by collecting a number of difficult words and find words that mean the same (synonyms).
This series of work packs provides prompts to encourage children to write. It provides starting points, to encourage even the most reluctant writers. Featuring a lively, ‘magazine style’ format to appeal to children of all abilities, these packs are particularly recommended as preparation for creative writing tasks at 11+ or S.A.T.S.
The writer herself often dips into the lively collection of imaginative stories and non fiction articles, to teach her students in tutorials. The packs feature detailed prompts on how to plan and write stories and letters, as well as help with non fiction tasks - writing diaries, reports and persuasive leaflets. There is also plenty of practice in writing techniques - variation of sentences, connectives and grammar and punctuation tips.
30 pages
Read the biography about Florence Nightingale (1820-1910) and answer the comprehension questions.
In this pack, your kids will learn about a truly inspirational British woman, who challenged the thinking of her day that a woman’s only role was to marry and have children, and subsequently, turned nursing into a respectable profession.
The comprehension questions will help children practise: how to identify key details from the text; how to work out answers by inferring, or predicting, using evidence from the text; and how to explain vocabulary. Answers are included.
Ideal for kids age 9-12 and a great resource to use for International Women’s Day.
16 pages
59 pages
A clear, concise revision guide to boost your grade, written by a tutor who is familiar with the requirements of the new GCSE examination. It is so simple you can use it for last minute revision. The skills and requirements for the GCSE English language exam are very specific: retrieving information from texts, inference, analysis of language, presentational techniques and comparing texts are some of the skills needed. For writing, students are required to engage the reader and produce a response, which relates to the purpose and audience. This book teaches students how to write using different purposes to inform, explain, argue, advise, describe, persuade, review and how to make the tone and register of their writing suitable for the audience. It emphasises the P.E.E or P.E.T.E.R technique, so students have a blue print (format) to work from; make POINT, give EVIDENCE, comment on TECHNIQUE, EFFECT and RESPONSE. This helps students to develop analytical skills for non-fiction tasks and responses in English literature papers. The students are also taught to use rhetorical techniques groups of three, speaking directly to the reader, rhetorical questions, inclusive pronouns as well as stylistic devices like similes, metaphors and high level vocabulary. The aim of this book is: To help every child gain a grade C in GCSE English. To outline the requirements of the present GCSE course and to teach students to structure and organise a piece of writing. To teach students to look for key words in a task and to plan a suitable response. To teach students to use linguistic and stylistic devices. To show them how to use rhetorical techniques. To teach P.E.E techniques and to teach the analytical skills required for English language and literature tasks. To teach good spelling, punctuation and grammar.
A clear, concise revision guide to boost your grade, written by a tutor who is familiar with the requirements of the new GCSE examination. It is so simple you can use it for last minute revision. The skills and requirements for the GCSE English language exam are very specific: retrieving information from texts, inference, analysis of language, presentational techniques and comparing texts are some of the skills needed. For writing, students are required to engage the reader and produce a response, which relates to the purpose and audience. This book teaches students how to write using different purposes to inform, explain, argue, advise, describe, persuade, review and how to make the tone and register of their writing suitable for the audience. It emphasises the P.E.E or P.E.T.E.R technique, so students have a blue print (format) to work from; make POINT, give EVIDENCE, comment on TECHNIQUE, EFFECT and RESPONSE. This helps students to develop analytical skills for non-fiction tasks and responses in English literature papers. The students are also taught to use rhetorical techniques groups of three, speaking directly to the reader, rhetorical questions, inclusive pronouns as well as stylistic devices like similes, metaphors and high level vocabulary. The aim of this book is: To help every child gain a grade C in GCSE English. To outline the requirements of the present GCSE course and to teach students to structure and organise a piece of writing. To teach students to look for key words in a task and to plan a suitable response. To teach students to use linguistic and stylistic devices. To show them how to use rhetorical techniques. To teach P.E.E techniques and to teach the analytical skills required for English language and literature tasks. To teach good spelling, punctuation and grammar.
49 pages
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
7 pages
Funny Frank Does Not Fear ‘Fractions’
Funny Frank teaches equivalent fractions, fractional parts, changing fractions to decimals, improper fractions and mixed numbers.
A series of fun maths work packs, to teach basic numeracy skills for 9-12 year olds.
Comical cartoon characters,such as Felicity Factor and Max Multiple are on hand to help children with maths concepts they struggle with.
These packs can be used at home to reinforce work down in school and as a support material to use in school alongside other schemes.
Each pack includes exercises with answers, to enable the teacher or parent to assess if the child has understood the math’s concept learnt.
Use the Senses To Write (And Other Writing Tasks) (7-11 years)
In this pack, the child is taught to use their senses (sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch) in their writing. They should add their own ideas to ‘I love to’ and ‘I hate to’. After this, the child should read the example and then write about a journey that they have undertaken. Then, they are asked to make up some questions to interview a pop star or celebrity that they absolutely love. They should use the Internet to research their life.
This series provides prompts to encourage children to write. It provides starting points, to encourage even the most reluctant writers. Presented in a lively ‘magazine style’ format, these packs feature stories and non fiction texts to read. They include follow up activities that will inspire even the most reluctant writer, to write stories, letters, play scripts, diaries, poems, persuasive leaflets and more. More than this, the child will learn writing techniques including: simple, compound and complex sentences - connectives, grammar tips - harder vocabulary and punctuation.
Aimed at 7-11 year olds, these work packs provide excellent writing practice for those children preparing to take 11+ exams or S.A.T.s. They will also benefit children with special needs, or where English is a second language.es
19 pages
Plan And Write The Story Of The Three Wishes.
How To Use
Cut out the pages along the dotted lines and muddle them up. Now, ask the child to sort them back into the right order, so the story has a beginning, a middle and an end. Get the child to read the story. Then, cover it and ask them to re-write their own version, putting in more detail.
This series provides starting points to get young children, of 6-9 years, writing their own imaginative stories.
Traditional tales like ‘The Three Billy Goats Gruff’ are used as examples to look at the characters, the setting and the plot and to show how to structure a story with a beginning, a middle and an end.
Children will learn how to brainstorm their ideas, how to put them in a plan and then set out their story.
Each pack provides writing challenges, asking the child to continue writing the story, developing their own ideas and to cut up stories to put in order.
15 pages
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
Read our beautifully illustrated retelling of the much-loved Charles Dickens novella, A Christmas Carol, to discover how a stingy, old miser comes to help a poor, sick child. Then, answer the comprehension questions.
A thought-provoking activity that will introduce kids, age 6-9, to this classic Christmas story and encourage them to think about the true meaning of Christmas.
33 pages
This resource includes 2 packs.
In this work pack the child is asked to read the text and to answer some questions. The last question focuses on the meaning of words used in the text and the child then writes his or her own non fiction piece. The child also works through punctuation exercises - putting in capital letters, full stops and question marks.
Let’s Practise Our Reading Comprehension Packs are a valuable resource to help the child practise essential reading comprehension skills. Each pack includes an article for the child to read and then a series of questions. They are ideal for use with 6-9 year olds, who have reached some degree of reading fluency.
The articles ask the child to retrieve facts, explain information and develop their own ideas as to what the writer is implying. Each pack contains vocabulary exercises, encouraging the child to search for words or phrases with the same meaning.
Each pack takes the form of a mini topic or project. Answers are included.
12 pages
Challenge 7
‘Two Pieces Of Pie’. Revise soft ‘c’ (as in mice) and hard ‘c’ (when ‘c’ is put with other letters) for example, ‘cat’. Practise some tricky homophones that children often get wrong, for example, ‘where’ and ‘were’.
Challenge 8
‘The Fair Has Come To Town’. This pack reinforces complex middle and ending sounds, as in ‘air’, ‘ght’, ‘ea’ and ‘ou’. Zoggy says let’s look at rhyming pairs. Let’s see how different words add the suffix ‘ing’. Remember if a word has a short vowel sound, you have to double the consonant.
Spelling need not be dull. Learn to spell tricky words with Zoggy, is a fun spelling aid to encourage children aged 7-11 years to enjoy learning to spell.
This series of work packs include 12 graded spelling challenges to work through, with spelling tests. They concentrate on those words or sound patterns that consistently cause problems.
To help cement these ‘tricky words’ into young minds, we meet again our quirky alien character, Zoggy - with his cartoons, his zany messages back to planet Zen and his ridiculous rhymes and mnemonics.
These packs use a multi sensory approach.
Say the word
Repeat the rhymes
Sound it out
Read it
Write it
Cover and spell again
Use the method that work for you.
Good Friday Easter Writing Pack
Jesus’ Trial And Crucifixion
This pack will allow your kids to look deeper into the accounts of Jesus’ trial and crucifixion, while practising their comprehension skills.
Includes a number of themed activities including:
A reading comprehension based on the bible passage
Creative writing activities
A craft
A drawing activity
With our bible work packs, kids will practise their comprehension skills and look deeper into their favourite Bible Stories.
26 pages