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.
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.
Practise Writing Christmas Simple Sentences - Age 6-8
These fun, festive worksheets will help kids, age 6-8, to practise writing simple Christmas sentences.
10 pages
This fascinating workbook is packed full of information about working conditions in Victorian textile factories. It is your job to finish the research and complete the various fun activities. You will need to ask questions, find information and interpret the evidence you discover. It includes lots of interesting firsthand source material.
The topics covered include:
Why factories were built?
Who worked in Victorian textile factories?
Child labour in the factories
Working and living conditions of factory workers
Factory reforms
Factory workers on strike
In this resource, your children will be introduced to Samuel Courtauld, a successful silk mill owner, in Halstead Essex. They will discover who Mr. Courtauld employed in his factory; the working and living conditions of his factory workers; how he responded to the Factory Acts and the strikes at his mill; and the local societies he established to try and improve the lives of his workers.
At the same time, your children will be encouraged to find out for themselves about life in the cotton factories. They will have to imagine that they are the owner of a cotton mill in an industrial town in the north of England. They’ll need to write their own job adverts, create posters to highlight the factory rules, and explain what the working conditions are like for workers in their factory.
Each topic covered in this pack is broken down so that it is easy to understand and all the information is presented in an engaging manner. The historical subject matter being taught is written up in the form of imaginary interviews, newspaper articles, posters and as speech etc. for the children to read. There are lots of questions to answer that will encourage your children to thoughtfully consider the evidence before them. They will be asked to look for clues in texts and pictures, to describe, to explain, to reason, to draw conclusions, to think critically and make their own interpretations. There are also creative writing exercises to do that will help children write their own narratives about each topic and to recall, select and organise relevant historical knowledge. Where information is missing, your children will be required to make their own enquiries and look up the answers to the questions online and in books.
This pack 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. It is suitable for children age 8-12.
47 pages.
PDF
This is a digital download.
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
Cut up the story prompts. Muddle them up and get the child to arrange the story in the right order, with a beginning, a middle and an end. Ask the child to rewrite the story, adding their own ideas.
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.
5 pages
Read the estate agents description of 44 Acacia Road, Rushford. Then write a description of your house, as if you were an estate agent who is selling it. Next, the child is asked to answer the questions prompts to write about their house.
Describe A Room In My House
Show someone round your house. The child reads the sentences and decide what the buyer likes and what they dislike. The child is asked to think about the rooms in their house and to write about their favourite one. They can use the word prompts to help the , but also add their own ideas.
Write About My Bedroom
The child is asked to make a plan, listing the details he or she wants to include, using the prompts to help them, but also adding their own ideas. Then the child reads the example and writes at least three paragraphs to describe their own bedroom.
Write About My Ideal House
The new headteacher of the school wants to buy a house. The estate agent asks what they are looking for. Read the word choices and fill in the writing prompt - ‘My ideal house is a…’
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
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.
19 pages
‘Writing A Balanced Argument’ work packs are essential for all students wanting to develop their literacy skills and improve their grades in English assignments and examinations.
Includes:
How To Write A Discursive Argument
Hints And Tips For Writing A Discursive Essay
Writing skeletons, model answers and points for and against the following essays:
Fox Hunting Is Cruel. Discuss
In Favour Of Zoos, Or Not. Discuss.
Should Animals Perform In The Circus?
This series of work packs set out how to write a well-balanced argument. The student will learn how to structure their writing, putting forward a point of view, backing it up with convincing evidence, building up a relevant counter argument and knocking it down, as well as, putting forward their own comments and opinions. These work packs focus on discursive writing, enabling the pupil to examine points for and against in a variety of subjects suitable for older children and teenage readers - healthy eating, fashion, social issues and many more. The student will learn vital essay writing skills, that will assist their studies in other areas of the curriculum.
In addition to this, the work packs teach organisational and literary devices in persuasive writing, including, figurative language, emotive words, repetition, connectives and use of good vocabulary. The student will learn how to consider writing for the appropriate audience, how to vary sentence types in order to make writing more interesting, and the importance of using good spelling, punctuation and 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 pupil to be successful and gain good grades.
The work packs are ideal for home study and will reinforce the work done in school. They may be purchased in any order. There are a number of titles to choose from. By working through the packs, the student will grow in confidence and will learn to enjoy writing. The packs are also a useful resource for teachers and save hours of time when preparing lessons or homework tasks.
This series is specifically targeted at Key Stage 2 and 3 (ages 9-14 years), but will also be a valuable resource for those taking GCSE up to grades C and above. They contain material suitable for UK National Curriculum SATS, for those taking 11+ entrance examinations, for GCSE exams and for students learning English as a foreign language.
29 pages
Make up some questions you would ask if you interviewed someone. Now, interview someone you know well and record what they say. Write a shirt biography of your chosen person.
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.
7 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.
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 consonant digraphs ch, sh, th and vowel digraphs oo, ee. Read the sentences and match the words/phrases to the pictures.
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 in 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.
Get the child/children to colour in the pictures.
Practise each sound several times, until the child is familiar with it.
Read the biography about Edith Cavell (1865-1915) and answer the comprehension questions.
In this pack, your kids will learn about a truly inspirational British woman, who selflessly put her own life at risk and used her position as a nurse to bravely help Allied soldiers escape German rule in Belgium.
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.
21 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
16 pages
Maths Test
Further practice of essential maths skills and maths facts that all children should know. Includes 60 plus questions. Answers are included.
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.
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.
3 pages
Write To Describe
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
10 pages
The Extraordinary Cupcake: Lots Of Writing Tasks To Complete (And More) (SATS And 11+ Essential Writing Practice) (9-13 years)
This pack contains lots of work to keep a child (children) busy - including writing stories - letters - emails and design a cup cake. This pack is full of interesting ideas to inspire the child (children) to write.
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.
3 pages
Design A Pair Of Space Age Trainers (SATS And 11+ Essential Writing Practice) (9-13 years)
Review some of the ordinary products for school - the design, value for money, their durability. Use your imagination as you journey into the word of fantasy and design a pair of space age trainers. Now, write about them for your school magazine.
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.