Favorite quotes from the article

"Although he was marked as a “low-level” reader in the classroom, perhaps Mark had finally realized that the freedom of the library allowed him to interact more playfully with books and to read on his own terms. Rather than being expected to read a book at a specific level from cover to cover, he was able to take advantage of the browsing session to have a meaningful literacy experience and to feel successful, even if for only a moment."

"Here, James describes how even advanced readers can feel constrained when not permitted to engage with the materials that are meaningful to them. In the library, James has more freedom of movement and of selection than in the classroom, allowing him to be a reader with agency as he reads a range of content, difficulty levels, and genres of text. " 

" In the classroom, where he is expected to read “just right” books, James doesn’t have the flexibility to read the books that he loves. The texts at his independent level (J and K) might be categorized as beginning chapter books, such as the Henry and Mudge series or the Frog and Toad books, which feature multiple characters, larger amounts of dialogue, and more complex plots. Books by Mo Willems are shorter (with most being level F or G), and they play with font, often using all capital letters, exaggerated punctuation, and speech bubbles, which James often acted out. "