Interest‐based instruction involves attending to students’ individual interests, including their existing topical interests, and triggering new situational interests, which can be cultivated during instruction. Understanding four teaching actions—approaching curricular planning intentionally, contextualizing learning, building relevance and value in the task or topic, and incorporating inquiry and project‐based learning—is important in cultivating an interest‐based approach. The authors examined the roles of interest and teaching actions in promoting students’ motivation and engagement. Two vignettes demonstrate how interest and teaching actions can drive planning, instruction, and instructional activities to promote students’ reading and writing development.