In this video, literacy educator Lois Letchford presents her "Box Lesson," a hands‑on classroom activity designed for students aged 6‑15 to help them grasp abstract language (words such as could, should, would, is, are, have, etc.) by linking them to concrete, sensory experiences. The lesson uses a series of prompts—"What could be in this box?", "What should be in this box?", and "What would you like to find in this box?"—each paired with multiple‑choice options that encourage children to evaluate possibilities, make decisions, and imagine scenarios. Physical props (boxes, a wrapped bottle, a letter from a fictional zoo) provide multisensory cues: students can shake boxes, read or have the teacher read letters, and even taste a bottle’s contents. Throughout the activity, students discuss their answers, revealing how they interpret abstract terms, and they leave the class with memorable items (a bottle, pencils, chips) that reinforce the language concepts. Lois emphasizes that the lesson is engaging, fun, and memorable, fostering imagination, decision‑making, and lasting recall of abstract vocabulary.
Chapters
Hello, I'm Lois Letchford, the Literacy Problem Solver and author of the book Reverse to Memoir, and I'm here to share with you my box lesson. Now my box lesson came about because children have to learn concrete and abstract words. Concrete words are like nouns, verbs, and adjectives and relatively easy. Abstract words do not easily create a picture and they are like the is, are, was, were, have, had, of, for and from, and even would, could and should. And so I decided, and I knew every child I teach speaks these words, so that's their strength, that they speak them. And I decided I would be able to connect and create a picture through words that my students would recall. And I do this one, this lesson with all of my students ages 6 to 15 because it's something different, they're fun, they've never experienced it before, and they walk away laughing. And it's an easy lesson to do, but it's engaging, it's innovative, and my students, they walk, say, I remember these words. And I'm giving them something to attach these abstract words to. This is my box lesson, and it starts with quite simple, what could be in this box? And the big writing is, what should be in this box? And what would you like to find in this box? And what I did was then gave them a multi-choice question. You know, what could be in this box? An elephant, shoes, or more boxes. And what should be in it? Carton of milk, shoes, or a basketball. And it goes on. I'm asking my students to think. I'm asking my students to evaluate. What could be in this box? An elephant? And they'll tell me, no, it can't be a real elephant. But it could be a stuffed elephant, it could be a toy elephant, and they're allowed to shake the box. Does it sound like it? So it's a multisensory activity getting my students to evaluate and make decisions about what could be in this box. What should be in this box is always an interesting one because I'm starting to really understand what my students think about language. Because if they say a carton of milk should then be in this box, I say, this box has been in my car all day. Would I leave a carton of milk in there? Really though, it's also saying they're not aware of what should be in here. There's only— this is the one question that has one answer. What should be in this box is? Shoes. So you're getting to really and truly understand how the students think about words. And then what would you like to find in there? Anything is acceptable for their answers. And then once they've done that and had their choices, I open the box. And I normally, in my website, you'll find there are 3 boxes. Today I only have 2. And there's a bottle, beautifully wrapped. Poke it out. Oh, what does that look like? A bottle. With a letter and another box with more questions in it. And this is the one I, you know, I let my children choose. Choose whichever you like. They're having choice all the time. Multisensory activity. And they'll say, oh, this one's a bit different, let's take this one. And so I read. If my students can read it, I give them a choice. Do you want to read this or do you want me to read it? I want you to read it. The idea of the whole activity is engagement. Engagement. So I will read, what could be in this bottle? And then it says, beware, there is a letter under this note which would be wise to read before you make a decision. Which means you should pick up the letter. It says, read me, and read it. Let's try. Open it up. Oh dear, oh dear. It's from Laronga Zoo. To whom it may concern, it says, please find the enclosed sample you requested. The elephants were most uncooperative in providing the assigned sample. It took 3 of our most experienced handlers and lots of water For the elephants to pee into the bottle provided. The elephants do not have very good aim, therefore most of the sample landed on the ground. However, we did manage to provide what you requested. The exercise was very expensive and I have enclosed a bill for $1,000. If you ever require another sample of anything, please send a more appropriate utensil, a large funnel, Thank you for allowing us to participate in your project. Yours sincerely, Mr. L.E. Fant, Zoo Director. And underneath is a bill from the Weronga Zoo. So that's it. Now you have a decision. What could be in this bottle? Apple juice, chocolate milk, or elephant pee? And my students say, how will we find out? We'll taste it. And it's all about decision-making. What should be in this bottle? Well, really, what should be in it? Apple juice, green tea, or milk? Or what would I like to find in this bottle? Something you don't want to know about, alien leftovers, or Gatorade. It's all about making decisions. About tapping into a child's imagination and saying, you have these words in your mind, let's have fun with it. And then we always go on and we can do the next box lesson. I have pencils in here, so my students leave my classroom today with a bottle of apple juice, pencils, and often with a bag of chips is the third one. Tomorrow when they come back, And they say, I can't remember anything. I say, what did you take home? I took home a bottle of velvet bean. And I say, and what could, should, and would be in it? Instantly, I've got an activity, a shared activity, and we have no questions about the words that we are learning. Thank you. That's my box lesson. Engaging, fun, memorable. Students are thinking.
