The study explored whether aspects of elementary students' writing about their personal values could predict if students were considered more at risk or more resilient. Essays from 176 fifth-grade students (79.54% African American, 20.46% Hispanic) from a low-income, urban district in New Jersey were analyzed using the Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count software. Students also were assessed on self-concept, social skills, internalizing, externalizing and hyperactivity before and after essay writing, which were then used to predict at-risk and resilient cluster groups. Discriminant factor analysis revealed that the percentage of death-related words in the essays predicted at-risk group membership for male students and Hispanic students. The percentage of social process-related words was a significant predictor of resilience for Hispanic students. Results were replicated using Time 2 data. How Laws of Life essay characteristics can provide unobtrusive insight into the at-risk or resilience status in children from high-risk communities was discussed.