Why are children off task? What is going on in classrooms where a majority of children are off task? In this study we analyzed primary-grade classroom literacy instruction in which there was considerable off-task behavior. Using Turner and Paris's frame for understanding student motivation in the classroom, we analyzed 73 activity settings where students were off task at least 25 percent of the time for instructional characteristics positively associated with student motivation: choice, challenge, control, collaboration, constructing meaning, and consequences. Student off-task behavior was prevalent in classrooms where few of these six variables were present and instructional tasks were characterized as "closed," i.e. where the products and processes were predetermined. Where there was indication of a high degree of off-task behavior, a disproportionately high number (23 of the 28 data sets) were from classrooms that used scripted literacy instructional programs. Findings are interpreted using both psychological and critical frameworks. (Contains 2 tables.)