A study examined topic selection and spelling development in kindergarten students' journal writing. Subjects, 19 kindergarten students enrolled in a middle-class school, were informally interviewed about their writing. The students' writing topics were categorized and their spelling analyzed. Results indicated that the children were able to select their own topics for writing and that, without corrections from the teacher, the children moved toward the conventional spelling of words by experimenting as they wrote. (Three tables of data and 9 figures are included; 20 references and a developmental spelling test are attached.) (RS)