Bill, you will be remembered again.

Teachers need a little bit of assistance with imaginative, creative lessons. Slate Magazine just helped a sister out! Have students write a fictional story based on an insignificant object to make it a Significant Object. It's simply genius.

I can see the possibilities now:
- a field trip to the thift store with $2 per student. Buy an object.
- have students trade objects in the classroom to avoid students being able to pre-write a story.
- have students bring in their own significant objects that others (like parents or friends) see as insignificant. Students write why the insignificant object is actually significant. (I did this with a dead squirrel's tail, and now my mom took the framed poem and tail and hung it up on her living room wall. No joke.)