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Words Count: Gratitude Writing in Early Elementary School

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Title: Words Count: Gratitude Writing in Early Elementary School
Language: English
Authors: Simone P. Nguyen (ORCID 0000-0001-5585-2524), Cameron L. Gordon
Source: Early Childhood Education Journal. 2025 53(6):2063-2071.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 9
Publication Date: 2025
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Research
Education Level: Early Childhood Education
Elementary Education
Kindergarten
Primary Education
Descriptors: Kindergarten, Elementary School Students, Writing Assignments, Prompting, Positive Attitudes, Self Expression, Writing for Publication, Punctuation, Word Frequency
DOI: 10.1007/s10643-025-01856-4
ISSN: 1082-3301
1573-1707
Abstract: Gratitude writing exercises are a common tool used to promote gratitude. However, understanding of the specific writing features that are associated with written expressions of gratitude is limited. In this study, we investigated how fundamental characteristics (words, punctuation marks) of early elementary student's writing relate to their gratitude. Specifically, we reexamined a subset of data from Nguyen and Gordon (J Happ Stud 25(34), 2024). The data included 4932 gratitude expressions composed by kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders (N = 2806) who had participated in an annual community writing activity that prompted them to write about what they were thankful for. During this activity teachers submitted students' writing to local newspapers for publication and circulation online. We found that the number of gratitude categories expressed by students correlated with features of their writing, namely word count and punctuation marks. We also found that student grade level influenced the breadth of gratitude categories they wrote about. These findings have implications for education, providing a basis for developing innovative classroom gratitude writing activities that may foster students' gratitude across a myriad of categories.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2025
Accession Number: EJ1479605
Database: ERIC
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  Value: <anid>AN0187189990;5mx01aug.25;2025Aug11.03:06;v2.2.500</anid> <title id="AN0187189990-1">Words Count: Gratitude Writing in Early Elementary School </title> <p>Gratitude writing exercises are a common tool used to promote gratitude. However, understanding of the specific writing features that are associated with written expressions of gratitude is limited. In this study, we investigated how fundamental characteristics (words, punctuation marks) of early elementary student's writing relate to their gratitude. Specifically, we reexamined a subset of data from Nguyen and Gordon (J Happ Stud 25(<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref1">34</reflink>), 2024). The data included 4932 gratitude expressions composed by kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders (N = 2806) who had participated in an annual community writing activity that prompted them to write about what they were thankful for. During this activity teachers submitted students' writing to local newspapers for publication and circulation online. We found that the number of gratitude categories expressed by students correlated with features of their writing, namely word count and punctuation marks. We also found that student grade level influenced the breadth of gratitude categories they wrote about. These findings have implications for education, providing a basis for developing innovative classroom gratitude writing activities that may foster students' gratitude across a myriad of categories.</p> <p>Keywords: Writing; Gratitude; Elementary school; Maslow</p> <p>We extend our sincere gratitude to Micah Hoggatt, Alexis Longinetti, Bea Perry, Sydney Podwika, and Grace Anne West for their unwavering dedication and invaluable research assistance.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-2">Introduction</hd> <p>This study examined how features of early elementary students' writing are related to aspects of child well-being, in particular their gratitude. Gratitude has been operationalized in numerous ways within positive psychology. For example, gratitude has been operationalized as a person's intrapersonal tendency to attune to and appreciate the positives or good things in their lives (Wood et al., [<reflink idref="bib41" id="ref2">41</reflink>]). Gratitude has also been operationalized as an interpersonal process in which a person recognizes that a benefactor has granted them a benefit (e.g., gift, favor) (McCullough et al., [<reflink idref="bib28" id="ref3">28</reflink>]). Despite these different operational definitions, gratitude writing exercises are a common tool used to promote gratitude, and in turn, cultivate a stronger sense of personal well-being (Emmons & McCullough, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref4">8</reflink>]; Lyubomirsky et al., [<reflink idref="bib22" id="ref5">22</reflink>]). Indeed, there is a robust body of experimental studies showing that expressing gratitude in written form contributes to well-being (Davis et al., [<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref6">4</reflink>]; Diniz et al., [<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref7">6</reflink>]; Jans-Beken et al., [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref8">17</reflink>]; Wood et al., [<reflink idref="bib40" id="ref9">40</reflink>]). For example, research suggests that young adult college students experience improvements in their happiness when they engage in a reflective writing practice (e.g., composing multiple gratitude letters over time; Toepfer, [<reflink idref="bib37" id="ref10">37</reflink>]). Also, research suggests that adults experience more gains in their positive affect and life satisfaction when they participate in open-ended gratitude writing activities such as gratitude letters or essays compared to close-ended gratitude writing activities such as writing gratitude lists (Regan et al., [<reflink idref="bib36" id="ref11">36</reflink>]).</p> <p>Although most of the early research on gratitude interventions was focused on adults (Emmons & McCullough, [<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref12">8</reflink>]), there has been increasing attention towards how these interventions can be applied within the context of schools to promote students' psychological and academic outcomes (Froh et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref13">10</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref14">9</reflink>]). For example, research involving middle-school students has found an association between counting one's blessings (i.e., writing about five things that one is thankful for) and improvements in well-being such as increased satisfaction with their school experience (Froh et al., [<reflink idref="bib11" id="ref15">11</reflink>]). Research has also identified that gratitude interventions are most effective for students who are low in positive affect; when 3rd, 8th, and 12th graders wrote and delivered letters to someone for whom they were grateful, students reported increases in both their gratitude and positive affect (Froh et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref16">10</reflink>]).</p> <p>However, there remains a gap in both the adult and child literature regarding how specific features of gratitude writing, such as the words and punctuation used, relate to expressions of gratitude in writing. While studies of gratitude use a variety of gratitude writing activities (e.g., prompting individuals to express gratitude through letters or lists), more research is still needed to clarify specific characteristics of these activities (Jans-Beken et al., [<reflink idref="bib17" id="ref17">17</reflink>]). Thus, there is little understanding of how specific features of language are related to gratitude, particularly in the context of elementary education as children begin to learn how to express themselves through writing.</p> <p>The current study sought to help fill this gap by examining the relationship between writing and gratitude in early elementary school students. While the goal of this study was not to compare different writing interventions, it intended to clarify how features of students' writing (words, punctuation marks) related to their gratitude for various kinds of things. The current study drew from recent research by Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref18">33</reflink>]) that investigated how children's expressions of gratitude are influenced by societal events. These researchers used Maslow's theory of motivation (Maslow, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref19">24</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref20">23</reflink>]/[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref21">23</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref22">25</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref23">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref24">27</reflink>]) to examine the semantic content of children's written expressions of gratitude (i.e., what children express gratitude for) that appeared in online newspapers. This theory postulates that throughout development individuals are motivated by two general categories of needs, deficiency and growth. Deficiency needs pertain to survival and consist of the specific subcategories of biological and physiological, safety, love and belongingness, and esteem needs. Growth needs are aspirational and consist of the specific subcategories of cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and transcendence needs (Maslow, [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref25">23</reflink>]/[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref26">23</reflink>]). Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref27">33</reflink>]) found that children in kindergarten through the fifth grade in the United States were consistently grateful for the satisfaction of their deficiency needs (especially love and belongingness) relative to growth needs.</p> <p>Building upon Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref28">33</reflink>]), the current study reexamined a subset of their data to address a new set of questions about early elementary school students' writing. While Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref29">33</reflink>]) focused on the semantic content of gratitude expressions, the present study examined how students in kindergarten through the third grade articulate their gratitude through fundamental characteristics of writing—words and punctuation. These grade levels were of particular interest because early elementary school is an important period in which students are discovering how writing has a meaningful purpose of communication, laying the foundation for learning to express themselves through writing (Graham et al., [<reflink idref="bib13" id="ref30">13</reflink>]). Words and punctuation are integral parts of the written English language with words representing the meaning that writers intend to convey (Treiman, [<reflink idref="bib38" id="ref31">38</reflink>]; Treiman & Kessler, [<reflink idref="bib39" id="ref32">39</reflink>]) and punctuation (i.e., conventional signs such as a period and exclamation point) clarifying this meaning to readers (Hall, [<reflink idref="bib16" id="ref33">16</reflink>]; Hall & Robinson, [<reflink idref="bib15" id="ref34">15</reflink>]). These fundamental characteristics of writing can be used as indicators of student writing progress (Daffern et al., [<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref35">3</reflink>]; Gansle et al., [<reflink idref="bib12" id="ref36">12</reflink>]). By including both characteristics of writing in the current study, the findings could provide teachers with flexibility for creating a variety of writing projects in the classroom. For instance, research has shown that first, second, and third grade students who are encouraged to self-record their word counts while writing in their journals demonstrate increased expressiveness, including more complex sentence structure and detail elaborations (Moxley et al., [<reflink idref="bib29" id="ref37">29</reflink>]). Also, research has found that the quality of written expression among third to sixth grade students is correlated with metrics such as total words written (Deno et al., [<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref38">5</reflink>]).</p> <p>However, it is unknown how word count and punctuation specifically relate to students' written expressions of gratitude. In this study, we examined whether these features of students' writing are related to the number of gratitude categories they expressed, based on Maslow's theory of motivation. We focused on the number of categories (physiological, safety, love and belongingness, esteem, cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and transcendence needs) that students wrote about as an indicator of the breadth of their gratitude. The total number of gratitude categories mentioned in students' writing had not been previously analyzed by Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref39">33</reflink>]). In regards to gratitude, words may serve as indirect indicators of students' cognitive engagement and reflection in the gratitude writing activity. Similarly, punctuation marks may signal that students are contemplating not only what they are grateful for but also how to communicate their gratitude clearly to others through their writing. Therefore, it is possible that there are positive relationships between the number of words in students' writing and the number of categories they express gratitude for, as well as between the number of punctuation marks in students' writing and the number of categories they express gratitude for. However, the proposed relations are exploratory, and we do not claim causality. Additionally, the relationships may vary by student grade level. This study tested whether there are grade level differences in the number of categories for which students express gratitude.</p> <p>By examining how early elementary school students express gratitude for needs fulfilment based on Maslow's theory of motivation, this study bridges theory and practice in psychology and early childhood education. There is growing recognition that this theoretical approach has practical applications within schools (Gross et al., [<reflink idref="bib14" id="ref40">14</reflink>]; Noltemeyer et al., [<reflink idref="bib34" id="ref41">34</reflink>]). The aspiration is that the results of this study will offer valuable insights for educators in designing writing instruction that fosters both writing skills and gratitude, which may ultimately contribute to creating a strong foundation for students' cognitive and socio-emotional development during the early elementary school years.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-3">Method</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0187189990-4">Data Source</hd> <p>Data for this study come from Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref42">33</reflink>])'s corpus of writing by 3613 students—kindergarteners through fifth graders—featured in four local newspapers from the Northeastern, Midwestern, and Southern United States during the time period of 2018–2021. Students had participated in an annual school writing activity that prompted them to write about what they are thankful for. Teachers then submitted students' writing to the newspapers for publication and circulation online. Accompanying students' writing was also information about the students (e.g., name, age or grade level) and their schools (e.g., names of teachers and schools or school district). Whenever age was not provided, students' age was estimated based on grade level (e.g., kindergarten and first grade as equivalent to 5 and 6 years, National Center for Education Statistics, [<reflink idref="bib31" id="ref43">31</reflink>]). The gender of student's names was also determined by Namsor, an online gender prediction program (Namsor, n.d.). Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref44">33</reflink>]) then collected and transcribed the writing as it appeared in the newspapers with no edits or corrections to preserve their original form.</p> <p>In the current study, which focused on young children's writing during early elementary school, we extracted writing by students in kindergarten through third grade from Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref45">33</reflink>])'s corpus. Our research team extracted students' writing verbatim without making any changes. Thus the sample for this study was comprised of 2806 students, including kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders. Refer to Table 1 for the sample demographics. These students' writing was submitted by an estimated minimum of 99 elementary school teachers across 52 schools within 29 school districts. The research protocol of Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref46">33</reflink>]) was originally reviewed by the Institutional Review Board at University of North Carolina Wilmington and was determined as not meeting requirements for human subjects research per federal regulations [45 CFR 46.102 (d or f)], as there were no interactions with human subjects.</p> <p>Table 1 Sample demographics by student grade level</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Grade level</p></th><th align="left"><p>K</p></th><th align="left"><p>1st</p></th><th align="left"><p>2nd</p></th><th align="left"><p>3rd</p></th><th align="left"><p>All</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Mean age (years)</p></td><td align="left"><p>4.99</p></td><td align="left"><p>6.02</p></td><td align="left"><p>7.00</p></td><td align="left"><p>8.00</p></td><td align="left"><p>6.50</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Female (names)</p></td><td align="left"><p>206</p></td><td align="left"><p>665</p></td><td align="left"><p>237</p></td><td align="left"><p>206</p></td><td align="left"><p>1314</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Male (names)</p></td><td align="left"><p>281</p></td><td align="left"><p>717</p></td><td align="left"><p>265</p></td><td align="left"><p>229</p></td><td align="left"><p>1492</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Total</p></td><td align="left"><p>487</p></td><td align="left"><p>1382</p></td><td align="left"><p>502</p></td><td align="left"><p>356</p></td><td align="left"><p>2806</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Note.</emph> K = kindergarteners, 1st = first graders, 2nd = second graders, 3rd = third graders, All = total students</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-5">Data Coding</hd> <p>Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref47">33</reflink>]) originally coded their corpus using a coding scheme based on Maslow's theory of motivation (Maslow, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref48">24</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref49">23</reflink>]/[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref50">23</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref51">25</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref52">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref53">27</reflink>]). Each student's writing was coded for expressions of gratitude for the fulfilment of deficiency (physiological, safety, love and belongingness, and esteem needs) and growth (cognitive, aesthetic, self-actualization, and transcendence) needs and thus could be assigned different codes when gratitude was expressed for multiple things. There was also a ninth code for miscellaneous expressions of gratitude that did not fall into these categories. In total, the 3613 kindergarteners through fifth graders in Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref54">33</reflink>]) produced 6908 coded gratitude expressions. Please see Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref55">33</reflink>]) for additional details regarding coding and interrater reliability. In the current study, the sample of 2806 students produced 4932 coded gratitude expressions.</p> <p>To illustrate, Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref56">33</reflink>]) coded the following gratitude expression for the fulfilment of a growth need (cognitive): "I am thankful for my teachers because they teach me stuff." As another example, Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref57">33</reflink>]) coded the following gratitude expression for the fulfillment of one growth need (cognitive) and three deficiency needs (safety, physiological, love and belongingness): "I am thankful for my teachers because they help me learn. I'm thankful for my house because it gives me shelter. I'm thankful for food and water because they keep me healthy. I am thankful for my friends because they are caring and are nice. I'm most thankful for my family because they do a lot of stuff for me and they love me." For the purpose of the current study, we assigned a "1" to the first gratitude expression for the single category and a "4" to the second gratitude expression for the four individual categories.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-6">Data Analytic Plan</hd> <p>Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref58">33</reflink>]) analyzed their data by comparing the relative frequency of gratitude for the fulfilment of the two general categories of deficiency and growth needs. The current study utilized a different data analytic approach and level of analysis due to its unique set of questions about young children's writing. Therefore, we created three variables: total numbers of words, punctuation marks, and gratitude categories. For the purpose of this study, these variables were numerical in nature and did not differentiate among specific types of words, punctuation marks, or gratitude categories. Specifically, we first counted the total number of words written in each student's writing sample. Second, we counted the total number of punctuation marks that students used in their writing (period, exclamation point, question mark, comma, apostrophe, ellipses, hyphen, semi-colon, colon, quotation marks). For example, the following gratitude expression received a count of 13 words and three punctuation marks: "I am thankful for my scool because its fun and we can learn!!!". Similarly, "I am thankful for my cat, Patches." was assigned a word count of seven and two punctuation marks. The counts included spelling and punctuation errors to preserve the gratitude expressions as they were originally written by students. As context, we conducted a spelling and grammar check in Microsoft Word, which revealed 828 spelling and 1096 grammar errors (193 related to punctuation conventions) in these students' writing of 67,523 words.</p> <p>Third, for each student, based on the coding from Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref59">33</reflink>]) we tallied the total number of categories (combining across the specific deficiency and growth needs subcategories and the miscellaneous code) for which they expressed gratitude. This tally, ranging from 1 to 9, offers valuable information about the extent to which students tend to express gratitude for the same or distinct kinds of things.</p> <p>Then, using these variables, we conducted two sets of analyses. We conducted a one-way between-subjects ANOVA with grade level as the independent variable to compare students on their mean number of gratitude categories. We also computed a series of bi-variate Pearson correlation analyses to examine the associations between mean number of gratitude categories and number of words as well as between number of gratitude categories and number of punctuation marks for each grade level.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-7">Results</hd> <p>The descriptive statistics are presented in Table 2.</p> <p>Table 2 Descriptive statistics by student grade level</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Grade level</p></th><th align="left"><p>K</p></th><th align="left"><p>1st</p></th><th align="left"><p>2nd</p></th><th align="left"><p>3rd</p></th><th align="left"><p>All</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Student sample size</p></td><td align="left"><p>487</p></td><td align="left"><p>1382</p></td><td align="left"><p>502</p></td><td align="left"><p>435</p></td><td align="left"><p>2806</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Gratitude expressions</p></td><td align="left"><p>745</p></td><td align="left"><p>2032</p></td><td align="left"><p>1088</p></td><td align="left"><p>1067</p></td><td align="left"><p>4932</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Words</p></td><td align="left"><p>17.75 (12.46)</p></td><td align="left"><p>15.13 (9.05)</p></td><td align="left"><p>34.64 (17.07)</p></td><td align="left"><p>47.28 (25.23)</p></td><td align="left"><p>24.06 (19.17)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Punctuation marks</p></td><td align="left"><p>2.48 (2.27)</p></td><td align="left"><p>2.06 (1.82)</p></td><td align="left"><p>4.99 (2.92)</p></td><td align="left"><p>6.09 (3.31)</p></td><td align="left"><p>3.28 (2.88)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Gratitude categories</p></td><td align="left"><p>1.52 (0.75)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1.47 (0.75)</p></td><td align="left"><p>2.16 (0.88)</p></td><td align="left"><p>2.45 (0.95)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1.75 (0.90)</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Notes</emph>: Means (standard deviations) for words, punctuation marks, and gratitude categories. Punction marks range = 1–10. Gratitude category range = 1–9 K = kindergarteners, 1st = first graders, 2nd = second graders, 3rd = third graders, All = total students</p> <p>The one-way ANOVA results showed a statistically significant difference in students' mean number of gratitude categories with a large effect size, <emph>F</emph>(<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref60">3</reflink>, 2802) = 217.25, <emph>p</emph> <.001, <emph>η</emph><sups><emph>2</emph></sups> = 0.18. Tukey post-hoc analyses indicated significant differences between all student grade levels, <emph>p</emph>'s <.001, except for kindergarteners and first graders (<emph>p</emph> =.510). That is, third graders had a greater mean number of gratitude categories than second graders, first graders, and kindergarteners. Second graders had a greater mean number of gratitude categories than first graders and kindergarteners. First graders and kindergarteners had a similar mean number of gratitude categories. Please see Fig. 1.</p> <p>Graph: Fig. 1 Mean number of gratitude categories by student grade level</p> <p>The correlation analyses showed significant positive relationships between number of words and gratitude categories for kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders. There were also significant positive relationships between number of punctuation marks and number of gratitude categories across all grade levels. Please see Table 3 for the correlation coefficients and <emph>p</emph> values for each grade level.</p> <p>Table 3 Correlation between words/punctuation and gratitude categories</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" rowspan="2"><p>Values</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Words and gratitude categories</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Punctuation and gratitude categories</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left"><p><italic>r</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>r</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic></p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p><italic>Grade level</italic></p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Kindergarteners</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.61</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.44</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>First graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.60</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.61</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Second graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.27</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.33</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Third graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.40</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.28</p></td><td align="left"><p><.001</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Note</emph>: <emph>r</emph> Pearson correlation coefficient; <emph>p</emph> = <emph>p</emph> value</p> <p>As a follow-up, we also considered students' distinct words and punctuation marks. Because repetition of words and punctuation marks might inflate the counts without adding meaningful content, we recounted the number of words and punctuation marks in each student's writing to focus on unique, one-time use of a word and a punctuation mark only. Therefore, the recounts excluded any repeated words and punctuation marks. The means for the distinct words in the writing of the kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders were: 14.35, 11.85, 21.31, and 29.67, respectively. The means for the distinct punction marks in the writing of the kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders were: 1.40, 1.18, 1.71, 1.77, respectively. Overall, the results of the correlations were consistent with the original analysis. The number of unique words and gratitude categories were positively correlated for kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders. Also, number of unique punctuation marks and gratitude categories were positively correlated for kindergarteners, first graders, and second graders. However, the correlation was no longer statistically significant for third graders. The correlation coefficients and <emph>p</emph> values for each grade level are displayed in Table 4.</p> <p>Table 4 Correlation between unique words/punctuation and gratitude categories</p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left" rowspan="2"><p>Values</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Words and gratitude categories</p></th><th align="left" colspan="2"><p>Punctuation and gratitude categories</p></th></tr><tr><th align="left"><p><italic>r</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>r</italic></p></th><th align="left"><p><italic>p</italic></p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left" colspan="5"><p><italic>Grade level</italic></p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Kindergarteners</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.59</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.35</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>First graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.43</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.23</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Second graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.23</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.16</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Third graders</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.31</p></td><td align="left"><p> <.001</p></td><td char="." align="char"><p>0.07</p></td><td align="left"><p>.117</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Notes</emph>: Unique one-time usage of words and punctuation marks <emph>r</emph> Pearson correlation coefficient; <emph>p</emph> =<emph>p</emph> value</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-8">Discussion</hd> <p>Although there is increasing evidence suggesting the benefits of gratitude writing exercises (Froh et al., [<reflink idref="bib10" id="ref61">10</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib9" id="ref62">9</reflink>]) for promoting individual well-being, less is understood about the features of the writing itself. The purpose of this study was to explore the relationship between fundamental aspects of students' writing (words and punctuation) and students' expressed gratitude. To this end, we reexamined a subset of data drawn from Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref63">33</reflink>]). This subset of data included gratitude expressions composed by kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders who had participated in an annual community writing activity in which teachers had submitted their writing to a local newspaper for online publication and circulation.</p> <p>Two new main findings emerged from the present study that had not been previously documented by Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref64">33</reflink>]). First, consistent with our hypothesis, the results revealed that for each grade level, the number of categories that students expressed gratitude for was correlated with features of their writing (word count, punctuation marks): as students used more words and punctuation marks, they also expressed gratitude for more categories. Second, the results revealed student grade-level differences in the breadth of gratitude categories students wrote about. With each increasing grade level, students wrote about more gratitude categories with third graders writing about the most gratitude categories compared to second graders, first graders, and kindergarteners.</p> <p>We discuss each finding in turn. To begin, in regards to the correlations, it is crucial to note that these findings describe the linear relationship between features of students' writing and gratitude, and do not imply causation. That is, we cannot conclude whether using more words and punctuation causes students to experience more breadth in the types of gratitude they possess or whether having more breadth in their gratitude causes students to use more words and punctuation. It is also crucial to note that these findings do not imply anything about quantity versus quality or about how well students write. We acknowledge that the mere quantity of words and punctuation marks does not necessarily equate to superior writing quality. We acknowledge that some students may have used a lot of words and punctuation marks but formed redundant or grammatically incorrect sentences. We attempted to take this into account by analyzing students' distinct words and punctuation marks, and overall, the results mirrored those of the total numbers except for the third graders' punctuation marks. We do not know for certain why this correlation weakened for third graders, but we speculate that it may have something to do with these students using fewer varied punctuation marks. By primarily using certain punctuation marks (periods, commas), their count of distinct usage was limited, and consequently, this narrow range of punction marks may not correlate with gratitude. This warrants further investigation in the future.</p> <p>Next, regarding breadth, it is important to note that despite students writing about more categories with each successive grade level, the absolute number of categories remains limited. On average students wrote about 1.75 gratitude categories, which is quite small given that the coding scheme encompassed nine categories. This finding suggests that students tended to restrict what they wrote about to one to two gratitude categories. A follow-up inspection of the data suggests that on average, students wrote most frequently about the fulfilment of the category of love and belonginess (41.72%) followed by safety (18%), cognitive (17.74%), and biological and physiological (13.64%) needs. Expressions of gratitude for the fulfilment of esteem (0.99%), aesthetic (5.3%), self-actualization (0%), transcendence (2.02%), and miscellaneous (0.46%) needs were rare. To provide further context, the Appendix includes additional information on the distribution of gratitude categories by grade level.</p> <p>There may be several reasons why the students generally did not display variety in the kinds of gratitude categories that they wrote about. It is possible that these were the only things that the students were grateful for or that they could remember in the moment during the writing activity. It is also possible that the students were grateful for a variety of things from various categories, but they chose not to write about them or may not have had the writing proficiency to express this gratitude. Indeed, there are a number of individual differences (e.g., motivation, self-efficacy, Alves-Wold, [<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref65">1</reflink>]; Camacho et al., [<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref66">2</reflink>]) that may influence students' writing that should be explored in future research as related to expressions of gratitude. Nonetheless, the relative limitation in the general number of gratitude categories students wrote about serves as a conservative test for our exploratory analyses. The significant positive correlations evident in our results are all the more interesting, considering children's tendency to write about a relatively restricted range of gratitude categories to begin with.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-9">Limitations</hd> <p>We acknowledge that the present study had limitations. First, the present study used number of words, number of punctuation marks, and number of gratitude categories as the main variables. Therefore, the findings based on these simplistic variables may not fully capture the nuances of children's writing. Future research could use other techniques such as developing coding schemes for examining students' written expressions of gratitude for linguistic content as well as style. For example, future studies could analyze how students write about gratitude for distinct categories through the use of grammar to construct phrases and full sentences.</p> <p>Secondly, the present study relied on a naturalistic data set. Hence, we did not have experimental control over the writing activity and cannot make definitive conclusions about the causal relationship between students' writing and gratitude. In the future, an experimental design could be implemented in the classroom that investigates the effects of varying features of students' writing on their gratitude.</p> <p>Finally, the sample included a cross section of English writers in kindergarten, first grade, second grade, and third grade. We recognize that the over-representation of first-graders in the sample, due to the availability of data from Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref67">33</reflink>]), may limit the generalizability of our findings. Also, the lack of available demographic information about students' language backgrounds (e.g., whether English was a native language) restricts our ability to explore how such factors may influence children's gratitude expressions. Thus, the results cannot be generalized to students in other language communities, nor longitudinally across time as students transition from one grade level to the next. To improve the generalizability of the present findings, future research should explore students' written expressions of gratitude using more balanced grade-level samples and diverse language backgrounds throughout the early elementary school years.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-10">Implications and Practice Applications</hd> <p>Within the context of these limitations, the findings have important implications and applications from an educational as well as a positive psychology perspective. They highlight how students have abundant room to broaden their gratitude to encompass a greater variety of categories. This suggests that children have the capacity to grow in their acknowledgement and appreciation of the variety of wonders in their surrounding world. These findings provide valuable insight for educators interested in fostering early elementary school students' gratitude through fundamental characteristics of writing (e.g., words and punctuation marks). The findings can provide a basis for innovating different gratitude writing activities that may have the potential to foster gratitude for a myriad of categories, and support child well-being. It is important to emphasize that while our study did not directly measure children's well-being outcomes, our aim was to explore foundational aspects of children's written gratitude expressions and to highlight how specific writing features could inform future educational practices. Understanding how children articulate gratitude, even during early development, may offer valuable insights for educators seeking to improve the use of gratitude writing exercises in elementary classrooms. Although exploratory, our findings suggest that children can write about their experiences with gratitude, and that they naturally tend to do so in a relatively limited scope. Our findings further suggest that children naturally have a tendency to broaden their writing about gratitude somewhat as they age, and that an association exists between specific features of their writing (i.e., word count and punctuation use) and their experience of gratitude. While the present data cannot confirm potential impacts on well-being outcomes for children, combining our results with the extant literature offers promise for the potential that writing assignments on this topic could be structured to enhance children's contact with greater breadth and depth in their gratitude, which may benefit them psychologically while also enhancing their writing ability. By identifying the types of gratitude students express, educators can tailor activities to broaden students' understanding and articulation of gratitude, which may contribute to children's overall sense of well-being. Corroborating research suggests that children's gratitude for specific things, relative to a generalized sense of gratitude, is especially integral to children's happiness (Nguyen & Gordon, [<reflink idref="bib32" id="ref68">32</reflink>]).</p> <p>In particular, teachers could use Maslow's theory of motivation as a framework for students' writing (Maslow, [<reflink idref="bib24" id="ref69">24</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref70">23</reflink>]/[<reflink idref="bib23" id="ref71">23</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib25" id="ref72">25</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib26" id="ref73">26</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib27" id="ref74">27</reflink>]). The distribution of percentages displayed in the Appendix offers a glimpse of the trends within this study sample. These data can serve as a starting point for understanding and identifying the categories that students do and do not already tend to express gratitude for in their writing. Offering students opportunities to reflect on what they are already grateful for and to write about categories they often overlook could enhance the breadth of their gratitude expressions. For example, teachers could encourage students to broaden their focus beyond a single category by prompting and guiding them to write about specific things they are grateful for across multiple categories. Also, teachers can inspire students to discover additional categories of gratitude. Creative writing exercises may offer opportunities for students to stretch the boundaries of their imagination and explore new categories for which they may become increasingly grateful. Incorporating such writing practices especially in a long format (that allows for increased words and punctuation marks) into the classroom could be a promising way to expand students' sense of gratitude during early elementary school.</p> <p>Moreover, there is substantial evidence showing that as students progress through school, attitudes towards writing tend to worsen (Knudson, [<reflink idref="bib20" id="ref75">20</reflink>], [<reflink idref="bib21" id="ref76">21</reflink>]). Although there are potentially many factors that contribute to this decline (e.g., lack of autonomy in topic selection, subject to critical evaluation), gratitude writing exercises could be a useful means of improving students' positive attitudes towards writing. In this study, the writing activity appeared to be framed as a special experience for students such that their expressions of gratitude were celebrated and featured in local newspapers circulated online. Although we do not have a direct measurement of students' attitudes towards this writing activity (e.g., the Writing Attitude Survey, Kear et al., [<reflink idref="bib19" id="ref77">19</reflink>]), we did several exploratory keyword searches of the whole corpus of student writing samples to gain a preliminary sense of students' engagement and enjoyment. When searching for words related to the writing process ("writing," "spelling," "learning"), we found that these words appeared 138 times. When searching for words related to the writing context ("teacher," "school," "class"), we discovered 553 instances of these words. To get a sense of student writing enjoyment, we also searched the word "fun" (Kawabata & Mallett, [<reflink idref="bib18" id="ref78">18</reflink>]; Zumbrunn et al., [<reflink idref="bib42" id="ref79">42</reflink>]) and "joyful," "cheerful," "happy," "lively," and "proud" (positive affect scale the PANAS-C Short Form, Ebesutani et al., [<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref80">7</reflink>]) and found 260 instances of these words. While these findings are preliminary and exploratory, they suggest that many students enjoyed this writing activity, which is promising. Of course, more systematic research using validated word libraries (such as Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, Pennebaker et al., [<reflink idref="bib35" id="ref81">35</reflink>]) is necessary. This research should be pursued to better understand how such gratitude writing activities can instill and sustain students' positive writing attitudes.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-11">Conclusions</hd> <p>The writing samples from kindergartners, first graders, second graders, and third graders examined in the current study originated from a community-based gratitude writing activity. The results revealed a relationship between characteristics of students' writing (word count and punctuation marks) and their gratitude (number of categories from Maslow's theory of motivation). A major takeaway from the current study is that early elementary school students can benefit from learning to express gratitude for more kinds of categories. The findings of this study provide a springboard for new ideas in the classroom that can flexibly incorporate different characteristics of writing for gratitude writing instruction and practice.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-12">Funding</hd> <p>No funding was received for conducting this investigation.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-13">Declarations</hd> <p></p> <hd id="AN0187189990-14">Conflict of Interest</hd> <p>The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-15">Ethical Approval</hd> <p>The Institutional Review Board at UNCW determined that this research does not meet requirements for human subjects research per federal regulations [45 CFR 46.102 (d or f)] as there were no interactions with human subjects.</p> <hd id="AN0187189990-16">Appendix</hd> <p></p> <p> <ephtml> <table frame="hsides" rules="groups"><thead><tr><th align="left"><p>Category</p></th><th align="left"><p>Kindergarteners</p></th><th align="left"><p>First graders</p></th><th align="left"><p>Second graders</p></th><th align="left"><p>Third graders</p></th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td align="left"><p>Biological & physiological</p></td><td align="left"><p>109 (14.63%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>233 (11.46%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>148 (13.60%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>183 (17.15%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Safety</p></td><td align="left"><p>92 (12.34%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>303 (14.91%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>212 (19.48%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>283 (26.52%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Love & belongingness</p></td><td align="left"><p>364 (48.85%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>915 (45.03%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>436 (40.07%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>343 (32.14%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Esteem</p></td><td align="left"><p>8 (1.07%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>21 (1.03%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>10 (0.91%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>10 (0.93%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Cognitive</p></td><td align="left"><p>135 (18.12%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>378 (18.60%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>196 (18.01%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>166 (15.55%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Aesthetic</p></td><td align="left"><p>27 (3.62%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>148 (7.28%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>42 (3.86%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>46 (4.31%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Self-Actualization</p></td><td align="left"><p>1 (0.13%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>0 (0%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>0 (0%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>0 (0%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Transcendence</p></td><td align="left"><p>9 (1.2%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>23 (1.13%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>35 (3.21%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>33 (3.09%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Other</p></td><td align="left"><p>0 (0%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>11 (0.54%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>9 (0.82%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>3 (0.28%)</p></td></tr><tr><td align="left"><p>Total</p></td><td align="left"><p>745 (100%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>2032 (100%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1088 (100%)</p></td><td align="left"><p>1067 (100%)</p></td></tr></tbody></table> </ephtml> </p> <p> <emph>Note</emph>: Based on Nguyen and Gordon ([<reflink idref="bib33" id="ref82">33</reflink>]): (<reflink idref="bib1" id="ref83">1</reflink>) <emph>Biological & physiological</emph>—These needs are vital biological requirements that are essential for optimal human life and survival; (<reflink idref="bib2" id="ref84">2</reflink>) <emph>Safety</emph>—These needs are fundamental for one to feel safe from harm, secure, and in control of their life; (<reflink idref="bib3" id="ref85">3</reflink>) <emph>Love and belongingness</emph>—These needs are social-emotional, and focus on connectedness, companionship, and interpersonal relationships; (<reflink idref="bib4" id="ref86">4</reflink>) <emph>Esteem</emph>—These needs are about regard for oneself, self-esteem, and self-respect as well as the desire to be recognized and valued by others; (<reflink idref="bib5" id="ref87">5</reflink>) <emph>Cognitive</emph>—These needs are about pursuing knowledge and welcoming experiences that foster a better understanding of the world; (<reflink idref="bib6" id="ref88">6</reflink>) <emph>Aesthetic</emph>—These needs are in regards to exploring and refreshing oneself in the beauty of nature or in the environment, and expressing oneself in aesthetically pleasing ways; (<reflink idref="bib7" id="ref89">7</reflink>) <emph>Self-actualization</emph>—These needs refer to achieving one's unique potentiality, becoming all that one can possibly become, a self-realization on the path to self-transcendence; (<reflink idref="bib8" id="ref90">8</reflink>) <emph>Transcendence</emph><bold>—</bold>These highest, most holistic needs transcend beyond one's personal needs and focus on supporting the self-actualization of others and unity of all things. 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Gordon</p> <p>Reported by Author; Author</p> </aug> <nolink nlid="nl1" bibid="bib34" firstref="ref1"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl2" bibid="bib41" firstref="ref2"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl3" bibid="bib28" firstref="ref3"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl4" bibid="bib22" firstref="ref5"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl5" bibid="bib17" firstref="ref8"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl6" bibid="bib40" firstref="ref9"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl7" bibid="bib37" firstref="ref10"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl8" bibid="bib36" firstref="ref11"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl9" bibid="bib10" firstref="ref13"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl10" bibid="bib11" firstref="ref15"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl11" bibid="bib33" firstref="ref18"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl12" bibid="bib24" firstref="ref19"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl13" bibid="bib23" firstref="ref20"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl14" bibid="bib25" firstref="ref22"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl15" bibid="bib26" firstref="ref23"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl16" bibid="bib27" firstref="ref24"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl17" bibid="bib13" firstref="ref30"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl18" bibid="bib38" firstref="ref31"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl19" bibid="bib39" firstref="ref32"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl20" bibid="bib16" firstref="ref33"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl21" bibid="bib15" firstref="ref34"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl22" bibid="bib12" firstref="ref36"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl23" bibid="bib29" firstref="ref37"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl24" bibid="bib14" firstref="ref40"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl25" bibid="bib31" firstref="ref43"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl26" bibid="bib32" firstref="ref68"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl27" bibid="bib20" firstref="ref75"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl28" bibid="bib21" firstref="ref76"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl29" bibid="bib19" firstref="ref77"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl30" bibid="bib18" firstref="ref78"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl31" bibid="bib42" firstref="ref79"></nolink> <nolink nlid="nl32" bibid="bib35" firstref="ref81"></nolink>
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  Data: Words Count: Gratitude Writing in Early Elementary School
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  Data: English
– Name: Author
  Label: Authors
  Group: Au
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Simone+P%2E+Nguyen%22">Simone P. Nguyen</searchLink> (ORCID <externalLink term="http://orcid.org/0000-0001-5585-2524">0000-0001-5585-2524</externalLink>)<br /><searchLink fieldCode="AR" term="%22Cameron+L%2E+Gordon%22">Cameron L. Gordon</searchLink>
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  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="SO" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education+Journal%22"><i>Early Childhood Education Journal</i></searchLink>. 2025 53(6):2063-2071.
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  Data: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
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  Data: Y
– Name: Pages
  Label: Page Count
  Group: Src
  Data: 9
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  Label: Publication Date
  Group: Date
  Data: 2025
– Name: TypeDocument
  Label: Document Type
  Group: TypDoc
  Data: Journal Articles<br />Reports - Research
– Name: Audience
  Label: Education Level
  Group: Audnce
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Early+Childhood+Education%22">Early Childhood Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Elementary+Education%22">Elementary Education</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="EL" term="%22Primary+Education%22">Primary Education</searchLink>
– Name: Subject
  Label: Descriptors
  Group: Su
  Data: <searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Kindergarten%22">Kindergarten</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Elementary+School+Students%22">Elementary School Students</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+Assignments%22">Writing Assignments</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Prompting%22">Prompting</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Positive+Attitudes%22">Positive Attitudes</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Self+Expression%22">Self Expression</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Writing+for+Publication%22">Writing for Publication</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Punctuation%22">Punctuation</searchLink><br /><searchLink fieldCode="DE" term="%22Word+Frequency%22">Word Frequency</searchLink>
– Name: DOI
  Label: DOI
  Group: ID
  Data: 10.1007/s10643-025-01856-4
– Name: ISSN
  Label: ISSN
  Group: ISSN
  Data: 1082-3301<br />1573-1707
– Name: Abstract
  Label: Abstract
  Group: Ab
  Data: Gratitude writing exercises are a common tool used to promote gratitude. However, understanding of the specific writing features that are associated with written expressions of gratitude is limited. In this study, we investigated how fundamental characteristics (words, punctuation marks) of early elementary student's writing relate to their gratitude. Specifically, we reexamined a subset of data from Nguyen and Gordon (J Happ Stud 25(34), 2024). The data included 4932 gratitude expressions composed by kindergarteners, first graders, second graders, and third graders (N = 2806) who had participated in an annual community writing activity that prompted them to write about what they were thankful for. During this activity teachers submitted students' writing to local newspapers for publication and circulation online. We found that the number of gratitude categories expressed by students correlated with features of their writing, namely word count and punctuation marks. We also found that student grade level influenced the breadth of gratitude categories they wrote about. These findings have implications for education, providing a basis for developing innovative classroom gratitude writing activities that may foster students' gratitude across a myriad of categories.
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  Data: 2025
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      – Text: English
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        PageCount: 9
        StartPage: 2063
    Subjects:
      – SubjectFull: Kindergarten
        Type: general
      – SubjectFull: Elementary School Students
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      – SubjectFull: Writing Assignments
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