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.
Write About My Interests (7-11 years)
Answer the questions to write about the things that interest you or are very special. Try to explain why you feel this way.
This series provides prompts to get the child to write. It provides starting points to encourage children of all abilities to write - even the most reluctant writers. With this series they will be inspired to write stories, poems, play scripts, diaries, reports, persuasive leaflets and more.
More than this, 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.
19 pages
This is a bundle of 13 resources for use at GCSE Level. These resources have been taken from our popular book
‘How Do I Improve My Grades In GCSE English?’.
Each resource concentrates on one aspect of writing at GCSE (14-16 years). The student should work their way through all the work packs at their own speed. Take the advice on board and we guarantee that students will gain a grade C or above in their GCSE English Language exam.
The examples contained within each resource will give the student ideas to build on and provide practice to develop their writing skills. The examples will show the student the standard of work they need to reach to do well in their exam. 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.
This series provides a clear, concise revision guide to boost grade, written by a teacher and tutor who is familiar with the requirements of the new GCSE examination. It is so simple that the student 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 series 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.
100 pages approximately
The Little Match Girl Comprehension
Read our illustrated version of the classic fairy tale The Little Match Girl, by Hans Christian Andersen, and answer the comprehension questions.
A thought-provoking activity that will encourage kids, age 7-10, to think about those less fortunate than them during the holiday season and the importance of being charitable and kind.
Between the ages of 9 and 12, children have to complete Standardised.Assessment.Tests (Sats). To help them practise for these tests, Guinea Pig Education have produced a new series of grammar, punctuation and spelling booklets.
The Standards and Testing Agency states that the child has 45 minutes to complete the test, answering the questions in the answer booklet. There are different types of questions for them to answer in different ways. The space for their answer shows them what type of answer is needed. The child should read the instructions carefully. Some questions are multiple choice and only need them to tick, draw lines to, or circle their answer. For others, they will need to write their answer in the space provided. Numbers at the side of the page indicate the number of marks they can get for each question.
The tests in this booklet are based on the KS2 English Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling Assessment sample papers. It is important to try and complete them in 45 minutes, but it is their choice. The more tests they practise the quicker they will get.
38 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.
109 pages
Use the story planner to plan and write a story ‘Moving To A New House’. Read the example to see how a story can be structured (opening, development of plot, complication, suspense and tension and resolution). Don’t forget to work on how the characters feel.
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
Cut Out And Write A Story Of Robin Hood
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
Assessment Test 8
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.
9 pages
Assessment Test 3
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.
9 pages
Using Plural And Singular Nouns
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.
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.
This resource includes 63 pages.
Persuasive Writing & Argument Theme Work Packs save preparation time when planning writing tasks for 9-14 year olds. Easy to follow, each pack provides specimen planning sheets and essays in non fiction writing topics. The model essays contain information that will give children starting points to develop their own ideas. Children will learn fundamental skills in non fiction writing.
Persuasive Writing & Argument Theme Work Packs teach children how to write from different points of view and how opinions can be used to make articles biased. Children will learn the basic principles of discursive writing, including how to set out an argument. They will learn different forms of writing - for example, articles, letters, leaflets, brochures and holiday brochures. They will become familiar with using literary or stylistic techniques, such as, repetition, similes, metaphors and groups of three, to make their writing persuasive.
Use the information on dinosaurs to write a newspaper report. Learn about facts and opinions, reported and direct speech.
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
The child is asked to read two articles on working dogs 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.
17 pages
Use the planning sheet to write a leaflet to persuade people to come and experience ‘Dolphin Day Out’. Convince the reader to go there, by using persuasive words and techniques.
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.
9 pages
This DIGITAL resource will be added directly to your Google Drive. It can be shared with your children and their parents via Google Classroom or similar platform. It can be used with the interactive white board.
Learn Words Ending in le and el: Read the story 'Walking The Dogs’.
Learn To Read With Phonics Digital 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 drag and drop 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.
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.
15 pages
This pack teaches the child how to write a formal letter to argue a point.
The child should use Dear Sir or Madam and end with Yours faithfully or Dear Mr… or Mrs… and end with Yours sincerely. They should use point, evidence and explanation for each paragraph. They will learn how to introduce their viewpoint in a topic sentence, give some evidence and explain it. They will learn how to introduce the counter argument and then to argue against it. The child should read the example letters and prompts and then write their own.
Example Letters Include:
complaints
Letters to council
Help with hangover
The builders are poor
The train is dirty
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.
19 pages
This DIGITAL resource will be added directly to your Google Drive. It can be shared with your children and their parents via Google Classroom or similar platform. It can be used with the interactive white board.
Revise soft c, soft g & words ending in …ing. Read the story ‘Feather World.’
Learn To Read With Phonics Digital 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 drag and drop 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.
Read the story ‘The Fun Fair’ to revise the phonic sounds igh, ea, ear
Read the story and then answer the reading comprehension questions. Younger children might wish to work alongside an adult and answer the comprehension questions orally.
This resource is part of our ‘Learn To Read With Phonics’ reading scheme.
