Brittany Johnson, a 1st Grade Inclusion Teacher at Lulu Ross Elementary School (DE), has been named the Open Up Resources Teacher of the Month for December 2022. Johnson is being recognized for her outstanding work in her classroom and ongoing support of teachers across the country as a member of the Open Up Resources National Professional Learning Community.

Johnson’s work with Bookworms K–5 Reading and Writing makes her one of the most innovative teachers in the country. The Bookworms K–5 Reading and Writing curriculum inspires a new way of teaching language arts by engaging students through compelling, real-world content to build equitable and inclusive learning opportunities.

Starla Plummer, a colleague at Lulu Ross Elementary School, nominated Johnson for her passion and commitment to her students. Plummer shared, “Brittany is a very dedicated teacher. She not only is dedicated to all of her students, she is dedicated to her colleagues. Brittany is very organized, and she assists the members of the 1st grade team stay organized with all of the changes in Bookworms! I appreciate ALL that Brittany does!”

Johnson shared that there is an evident love for reading that Bookworms K–5 Reading & Writing has brought out in her students. She explained, “While the results our school has seen in our data since developing Bookworms is impressive, I think the greatest success that any teacher could share about using Bookworms is the intrinsic love of reading that has developed in our students. Students want to read – they love being able to re-read past Shared Reading Texts with friends, they look for the familiar characters and authors in the library when choosing their own books and they love listening to and discussing our ELA read-alouds at the carpet. Learning to read can be seen as a daunting task for a six-year-old, so to see students get excited about reading and books again is a huge win!” 

Also, she offered some insight for folks considering adoption of Bookworms K–5 Reading & Writing: “If you are looking for an evidence-based curriculum that produces results AND life-long readers, Bookworms is it.”

Open Up Resources is a non-profit on a mission to increase equity in education by making excellent, top-rated curricula freely available to districts. You can learn more at www.openupresources.org.