Despite cries of education, education, education it seems that pupils are still having trouble with the three Rs. At the last look into the literacy skills of early secondary pupils in 2004, around half of all Scottish schoolchildren failed the national writing test for 14-year-olds.

The following selection of teaching resources is aimed at developing this most fundamental of skills.

LEARNING AND TEACHING SCOTLAND

www. ltscotland. org. uk Starting off with their literacy site, Learning and Teaching Scotland offers a wide selection of programmes, downloads, books and information that can assist with all levels of teaching writing. The literacy site itself is a good starting point for teachers to discoverwhat resources are out there, with a selection of links. Of particular interest are:

Learning to Write, Writing to Learn

This publication focuses on the processes involved in writing, whether it be for communication, learning or enjoyment. Consisting of three booklets, Learning to Write, Writing to Learn explains the theories behind how children learn to write.

The Writer's Toolkit

This programme takes structure as its main focus; helping those pupils who find planning theirwriting difficult to break it down into recognisable stages.

Differentiating between imaginative, personal and functional writing, it encourages pupils to consider their audience. A range of skills is tested including spelling, punctuation and tone, plus planning, structuring and redrafting, making the programme suitable for children from seven to 14.

Resource type: literacy website, booklet, computer package Age: 5+ Price: the Writer's Toolkit can be purchased by telephone (call 08700 100 297 quoting code L0138) and costs [pounds]15.99 for a single user (VAT [pounds]2.80).

Learning to Write, Writing to Learn costs [pounds]7 (call 08700 100 297 quoting code P00JGA)

STORY STARTS www. sutton. lincs. sch. uk/pages/zone/stor y/start. html

Part of a site offered by a school in Sutton, Lincolnshire, this is an invaluable tool for teachers looking for ways to spark the imagination and encourage pupils to practise writing creatively.

The site offers a range of story beginnings organised into the categories of adventure, space, animal, spooky and funny. These can be distributed to pupils who can then see where their imaginations take them.

Resource type: website Age: 7+ Free

NAACE www. mape. org. uk/activities/index. htm

Naace, a professional association for those concerned with advancing education through information and communications technology, has a selection of interactive online resources available for primary school pupils.

One which could help with writing is Discloze. This game asks pupils to fill in the missing letters of a story, in a task rather like hangman. There are 34 different passages of varying levels of difficulty, or use Discloze Editor to make your own passages for pupils to try.

Resource type: online game Age: 5+ Free

TEACHERNET www. teachernet. gov. uk/teachingandlearning/library/lefthanders/

This web page gives teachers tips on how to help left-handed pupils learn writing as easily as possible. The article also suggests some books that may be of use.

Resource type: website Age: 5+ Free

BBC www. bbc. co. uk/schools/4_11/literacy. shtml

The BBC has a selection of interactive online activities. Every game comes with a worksheet for pupils to try as well as extensive notes and accompanying resources for teachers. Particularly good for five and six-year-olds is Magic Key.

Using colourful characters users learn, for example, there are different ways of saying the same thing, by replacing a word in a sentence (such as "went") with a more interesting word ("scampered").

Resource type: online activities Age: various, from 5 Free

CHANNEL 4 LEARNING www.4learningshop. co. uk/ProductsInCounter. cfm? subcat=4237&ShopRef=66&c at=500

The Writing House series, produced by Channel 4 Learning, is a useful learning tool for use with five to seven-year-olds.

Videos, activity books, CD-Roms and computer programmes are all available from the online shop. Using cartoons of the characters Mr Write, Violet and Word Bird, children can engage in activities that

require them to input their own writing orwrite with assistance.

Many of the programmes/CD-Roms offer options for teachers to check what has been written. The More Adventures from the Writing House activity book, for example, contains entries on topics from writing about personal experience to narrative and non-fictional writing.

Resource type: activity book, video, CD-Rom, computer programme Age: 5 to 7 Price: various; shop online for more information. The More Adventures from the Writing House activity book costs [pounds]5.95

LITERACY MATTERS www. literacymatters. com/resources. html

Literacy Matters' team of four has experience in teaching, school management and as school advisory officers. Their immensely useful online shopping site contains a wealth of literacy resources, usually in the form of books organised by target year. The idea is that teachers can have their literacy hour planned for them by following the site's recommendations. These usually take the form of a recommended book (available for purchase through the site) plus a range of suggested activities and worksheets that can be downloaded for free. Take the whole lot or pick and choose which bits you think are the most valuable; it's up to you.

Resource type: lesson plans, worksheets and recommended reading Age: 5 to 14 Price: various

DEPARTMENT FOR EDUCATION AND SKILLS www. standards. dfes. gov. uk/

While the content of the resources available on the Department for Education and Skills site is intended for English pupils, it is worth browsing for ideas. Of particular use may be a collection of 10 fliers which focuses on strategies to improve writing at key stage two level by examining methods of approaching different types of writing from narratives to instructions.

These can be downloaded as PDFs or Word files (click on www. standards. dfes. gov. uk /primary/publications/literacy/63353/).

For youngerwriters, a selection of lesson plans suitable for key stage one pupils suggesting methods for teaching how to write the simplest three-sentence stories (see www. standards. dfes. gov. uk/primary /publications/literacy/63337/). Finally, click on www. standards. dfes. gov. uk /keystage3/respub/ks3learnstyle for information and ideas about how to use the three styles of learning writing (visual, auditory or kinaesthetic).

Resource type: website with downloadable teaching advice Age: 5+ Free