Mr. Belinsky’s Bagels: Teachers’ Study Guide
About the AuthorEllen Schwartz is the author of five books for children and one adult non-fiction book. Born in Washington, D.C., Ms. Schwartz now lives in Burnaby, British Columbia, with her husband and two teenaged daughters. In addition to writing books, Ms. Schwartz writes magazine articles. Among the people she has written about are Ken Dryden (former Montreal Canadiens goaltender), Rick Hansen, Bill Richardson (author and radio announcer) and Betty Fox (mother of Terry Fox). As well, Ms. Schwartz writes booklets and reports for companies and government agencies. Before becoming a writer, Ms. Schwartz taught special education and primary grades, and worked as an environmental educator. More information is on the Meet Ellen page. Ellen Schwartz’s books include:
About the IllustratorStefan Czernecki has illustrated, and written or co-written, a dozen books for children. In addition, Mr. Czernecki has done illustrations for children’s magazines (including the cover of Cricket magazine), has worked in film, and has designed posters for Canadian ballet and theatre companies. Born in Germany, Mr. Czernecki lived in Winnipeg, Toronto and Calgary before moving to Vancouver, where he now makes his home. He has traveled widely in Central America, where many of his stories are set. A partial list of Mr. Czernecki’s books follows. All except Mr. Belinsky’s Bagels are with Hyperion.
Synopsis of Mr. Belinsky’s BagelsMr. Belinsky makes bagels--only bagels. In spite of his limited selection, he is happy. He has loyal customers who love his bagels; what more could he want? But when a new bakery opens up across the street and starts taking away business, Mr. Belinsky realizes he has to change. He makes cookies--and to his surprise, they are a big success. He tries muffins next, then pies... Before he knows it, Mr. Belinsky is making all kinds of goodies and his shop is more successful than ever. But he’s so busy, he hardly has time to make bagels anymore. His loyal customers start dropping away. Finally, he realizes that he has let his success get in the way of doing what he loves best. He decides to get rid of all the goodies and go back to making bagels. But disaster strikes! He has forgotten how to make bagels! Crushed and disappointed, he is about to give up, when his hands--his hands that have kneaded so many batches of bagel dough--remember the recipe. Joyfully, Mr. Belinsky welcomes his old, loyal customers back into his shop for--what else?--fresh bagels. The major theme of Mr. Belinsky’s Bagels is being true to yourself. More information on the book is on the in the Books section. Suggested ActivitiesThe following activities bring out the themes in Mr. Belinsky’s Bagels. Curriculum links are indicated. Pre-reading QuestionsHere are some questions you can discuss with your students before reading:
Bake a Bagel!(Personal Planning)If you have access to an oven, your class can make bagels. Here’s how:
I nstructions:
Bring 4 quarts of water to a boil, adding 2 T. brown sugar. Drop 4 or 5 bagels at a time into the boiling water. Turn after they rise to the surface and boil for an additional minute. Lift them out with a slotted spoon and let them rest on a greased cookie sheet while boiling the next 4 or 5 in the same manner. Brush with egg yolk. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes, until golden brown. Makes 18 bagels. Bread Picnic(Social Studies, Personal Planning)Bagels are known as the bread of Eastern European Jews, but every culture has its own breads. Ask the students to bring in examples of different breads and compare their similarities and differences. Have a classroom "bread picnic." You can spread healthy toppings on the breads, such as peanut butter, apple butter, ricotta cheese and preserves. Bagel Lore(Language Arts)Did you know…
Discussion and Role Play(Personal Planning)After reading Mr. Belinsky’s Bagels, explore the central theme by having a class discussion using these questions:
Have the students write a story or draw a picture illustrating a time they allowed themselves to be persuaded to do something that wasn’t "true" for them. Be sure they express how they resolved the situation. Alternatively, have the class brainstorm situations in which children might forget to be true to themselves, and have them act out the situations in groups. Ask members of the group to suggest ways of resolving the situation, and have the actors portray the solutions. Wrap up the role plays with a class discussion about what "being true to yourself" means to the students. |
