Literacy/Writing Issues in Kindergarten

The kids in this class write all the time. They have journals they write in daily where they have freedom to write about whatever they want. Students also write in Science journals and work with small individual books that involve some writing almost every day. They write sentences and draw pictures of their writing. They are encouraged to write with best guess spelling or bubble gum spelling (because they stretch out the words into sounds).

I can't quite remember but I think that I was supposed to post on my blog about a question or concern that I have about a student in my class. Then my group members will share their ideas. Hopefully I am correct and I am maybe even ahead of the game by posting before I am supposed to.

I have a student in my Kindergarten class who is having real difficulty with writing. It seems that she has been drilled in the area and can write and identify letters and sounds in isolation but she does not have the ability to do so in words that she is trying to spell. Today the kids wore heart necklaces so that they can work on remembering sight words or words they should know by heart the words were like and I. This girl could not tell which word was which. Other than continuing to work with phonics and reading with her does anyone have other suggestions about possible ideas that could build her ability. Might there be anything else interfering with her ability?

Also this week the students were given a writing assessment. The idea behind it is good. Assess the kids to see where they are and compare their growth throughout the year. Great idea. Here is the problem...the assignment that they were given lacks authenticity and is very abstract and complicated. Here it is "Student Page 1
Kindergarten
Narrative
Writing about yourself
Writing Situation
Each of us is a special person. We are all different from each other. We all look different. We all do things differently. We are good at different things. That makes us special
Directions for Writing
Draw a picture of yourself. Think about what makes you special. Thank aobut how you look, how you act, and what you do well. Write a story about yourself that tells how you are special." The teacher read this aloud but the district also gave out papers so that each student could have a copy. This is almost a half a page of writing. A lot for a Kindergartener to look at and potentially be intimidated by. Teachers were not supposed to deviate from the script or offer any additonal guidance.
The student were giving some of that old fashioned writing paper that is lined and is newspaper thin. To write and draw a picture. Teachers were not aloud to help at all and were told to do guess and go spelling.
Many of the children did quite well with this prompt but I think that it is strange to ask kids to talk about something so abstract and to not allow them any of the things that they usually have when writing. Sometimes they can spell words on their own but need a little prompting or encouragement from the teacher. Also it is strange to ask them to write about something that they may have no interest in or may not even understand the concept of. The weird paper with all the lines is a lot for them to deal with as well.

How could this be done better? Why does the district think that this is an appropriate assessment for Kindergartners. It is not suited to them developmentally.