*Ruby the Copycat by Peggy Rathmannn (1991) is unremarkable in construction, but I give it a star for its topic. I haven’t come across "copycat" as a theme or even as a character trait before now. Ruby is a new student. She copies the ideas and clothing of Angela, the student who sits in front of her. When Angela wears a hand painted T-shirt to school, Ruby returns from lunch unable to sit normally at her desk because she’s wearing a hand painted T-shirt —still wet from paint. The story offers no explanation for Ruby’s behavior, but it doesn’t need to. It works just fine as a story about social skills.
A Delicacy of Differentiated Instruction has a Differentiated Instruction and SEL. Aimee Wisener has a Grade 2 Text Talk Vocabulary PowerPoint. Kristen's Kreations has a Language Arts Extension Menu.
