Directives are integral to teachers' pedagogical repertoire, and their efficacy crucial to optimizing learning outcomes. Based on data from a videotaped tutoring session collected at an after-school early literacy program, we describe the specific ways in which certain practices of directives can hinder learner participation and compromise learning opportunities. The analysis is done predominantly in the conversation analytic (CA) framework, and ethnographic details are utilized to contextualize, elaborate, and enrich the CA analysis. Findings of this study contribute to the existing work on directives as well as that on teacher practices in pedagogical interactions. (Contains 6 figures.)