This study developed a typology of recommended teacher practices related to whole-group instruction in preschool classrooms and examined the relationship between teachers' use of the practices and children's attentiveness. Thirty-nine classrooms in 31 schools (15 public and 16 private) were observed during regularly scheduled whole-group instruction sessions. Bivariate correlations indicated a positive relationship between children's attentiveness and number of practices that teachers used, but not between attentiveness and length of activity. Regression analyses suggested a set of eight specific practices that are related, with length of activity, to children's attentiveness. (Contains 3 tables.)