OBJECTIVE: To investigate the relationship between writing and attention in students. CASE DESCRIPTION: A study of the cross-sectional data collected from a convenience sample of 30 students from the city of Porto Alegre - RS who were in the grades third to the fifth and who were aged between 8-12 years. Ten students per school year were evaluated using a subtest of the International Dyslexia Test (IDT) and Teste de Atenção Concentrada - AC written under dictation. Analysis of the results revealed a direct relationship between the number of misspellings on the IDT and AC test performance across the 3 school years. When the 3 school years were compared, more words were spelled correctly and more answers on the AC were correct in the fifth grade. A gradual improvement in performance in the tests was observed in association with an increase in the school age. CONCLUSION: The development of writing is intrinsically associated with Attention. Considering the complexity of the writing code, the lack of capacity for selection and storing of the relevant information can cause difficulties in the acquisition of this code, and consequently, it can interfere in other aspects of development, either negating or impairing educational and intellectual ripening. This relationship highlights the importance of health professionals in the educational sector, and their assessment of attention difficulties and writing acquisition.