This is a case study that seeks to investigate how two teachers in grade 3 work with instructions to a written assignment in Swedish. The study is grounded in a sociocultural perspective on learning, and is based on observations in a classroom setting. The results show that the two teachers use different forms of mediating tools in their instructions. It was also found that the teachers use different speech acts in the instructions and that the instructions vary depending on which speech acts are included. Neither of the teachers made any adjustments to the collective instructions, instead they made individual adaptations outside the general instruction.