This research spawned from the observation of two half-day classes of kindergarten students at an elementary school in southern New Jersey. Being urged to write not only their first and last names but also letters, words, and even beginning sentences by the end of the year is a major requirement for New Jersey kindergartens in the year 2009. Noticing a lot of apprehension from the students when they were asked to write and use inventive spelling, methods were brainstormed of ways to encourage self-efficacy and motivation. It was decided to utilize an informal writing activity where the students would use their own drawings as inspiration to write. The students were observed; writing samples were collected; an interview was conducted, and detailed field notes were kept. Findings showed that allowing students to draw what they wanted and describe it with kid-writing alleviated some writing frustrations.
","abstract_html":"<p>This research spawned from the observation of two half-day classes of kindergarten students at an elementary school in southern New Jersey. Being urged to write not only their first and last names but also letters, words, and even beginning sentences by the end of the year is a major requirement for New Jersey kindergartens in the year 2009. Noticing a lot of apprehension from the students when they were asked to write and use inventive spelling, methods were brainstormed of ways to encourage self-efficacy and motivation. It was decided to utilize an informal writing activity where the students would use their own drawings as inspiration to write. The students were observed; writing samples were collected; an interview was conducted, and detailed field notes were kept. Findings showed that allowing students to draw what they wanted and describe it with kid-writing alleviated some writing frustrations.</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Barnes, Alison C."],"institution":null,"degree_name":"M.S. in Teaching","degree_level":"Thesis","degree_discipline":"Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":["McBee, Robin Haskell"],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2009,"date_issued":"2009-07-17T07:00:00Z","date_published":"2009-07-17T07:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:21Z","subjects":["Composition (Language arts); Kindergarten--Activity programs--New Jersey","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/593","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor","label":"Contributor","values":["McBee, Robin Haskell"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Barnes, Alison C."]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2016-03-15T07:00:00Z"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["M.S. in Teaching"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Composition (Language arts); Kindergarten--Activity programs--New Jersey","Elementary Education and Teaching"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/593"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This research spawned from the observation of two half-day classes of kindergarten students at an elementary school in southern New Jersey. Being urged to write not only their first and last names but also letters, words, and even beginning sentences by the end of the year is a major requirement for New Jersey kindergartens in the year 2009. Noticing a lot of apprehension from the students when they were asked to write and use inventive spelling, methods were brainstormed of ways to encourage self-efficacy and motivation. It was decided to utilize an informal writing activity where the students would use their own drawings as inspiration to write. The students were observed; writing samples were collected; an interview was conducted, and detailed field notes were kept. Findings showed that allowing students to draw what they wanted and describe it with kid-writing alleviated some writing frustrations.
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Motivating kindergarteners to write in a half-day setting"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor":["McBee, Robin Haskell"],"dc:creator":["Barnes, Alison C."],"dc:date.available":["2016-03-15T07:00:00Z"],"dc:description.abstract":["This research spawned from the observation of two half-day classes of kindergarten students at an elementary school in southern New Jersey. Being urged to write not only their first and last names but also letters, words, and even beginning sentences by the end of the year is a major requirement for New Jersey kindergartens in the year 2009. Noticing a lot of apprehension from the students when they were asked to write and use inventive spelling, methods were brainstormed of ways to encourage self-efficacy and motivation. It was decided to utilize an informal writing activity where the students would use their own drawings as inspiration to write. The students were observed; writing samples were collected; an interview was conducted, and detailed field notes were kept. Findings showed that allowing students to draw what they wanted and describe it with kid-writing alleviated some writing frustrations.
"],"dc:identifier":["https://rdw.rowan.edu/etd/593"],"dc:subject":["Composition (Language arts); Kindergarten--Activity programs--New Jersey","Elementary Education and Teaching"],"dc:title":["Motivating kindergarteners to write in a half-day setting"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Interdisciplinary and Inclusive Education"],"thesis:degree_level":["Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["M.S. in Teaching"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T04:13:21Z"}