This study utilized a sociocultural approach to writing instruction and examined its effects on the motivation of students with learning disabilities. The concept of the Zone of Proximal Development was used to measure changes in five third and fourth grade students' motivation toward literacy activities. Students wrote in journals daily and participated in weekly "feedback" sessions, where they read their stories to the teacher and other students. Data indicated that journal writing became more communicative over time, as children spent more time writing stories and letters rather than lists. Data also showed increases in creativity, a broader understanding of the uses of writing, greater persistence at writing tasks, and more conventional uses of writing over the course of the academic year. As journal writing was always a "free" writing activity (students were never told what topics to write about), the paper contends that the students' continuing desire to write, as well as the development of their writing abilities, is a result of the sociocultural/emergent literacy curriculum. Students did not receive any formal instruction in writing; thus, changes are attributed to the new meaning children constructed for writing, through their interactions with other members of the classroom writing community. A sample of one student's writing is included. (JDD)