To confirm or refute impressions that primary grade children do little in the way of actual school work during the day, a principal conducted informal observations in several first and second grade classrooms. Each type of activity the children might perform, such as reading, coloring, or moving about the room, was grouped into three major categories: high level work, low level work, and down time. Time spent on activities was recorded in full minutes. The records showed that most of the children chosen by their teachers as good workers were not working as long or as hard as they might have been, or as their teachers believed. Based on the observations, the school's model of primary grade instruction was redesigned to one in which children were less dependent on the teachers and more responsible for their own learning. Changes in three areas were implemented: (1) procedures, such as giving directions and explanations for seatwork only to the children who were going to use them; (2) instructional organization, such as using teacher aides, peer tutoring, and learning centers; and (3) seatwork, such as making assignments that require students' thinking and effort, are presented in context; they have purpose, and combine rather than isolate skills. Follow-up observations of two of the classrooms indicated that the changes had increased the amount of students' high level work, as well as improved their attitude and effort. (HTH)