Why is instructional gesture ineffective in some contexts? And what is it about learners that predicts whether they will learn from gestures? This between-subjects linear measurement training study compares gesture instruction to two controls--operant action and transient action--in a diverse sample of first-grade students (N = 174, M[subscript age] = 7.01 years; N[subscript female] = 84; N[subscript male] = 90, 10% Latinx-identified; 70% White; 6% Black; 6% Asian; 18% multiple racial categories, M[subscript income] = $59,750, SD[subscript income] [approximately equal to] $25,000; data collected 03/16-03/19). Results show that instructor-manipulated gestures may be less effective than demonstrative actions in part because they are iterative and do not leave a lasting trace. Verbal working memory, but not spatial, positively predicted an ability to learn from gesture and transient action in children with the lowest context knowledge.