Mrs. Yollis and her students live in Los Angeles, California. Through blogging, they have connected with a class that is 8,000 miles away in Australia!
Here are the flags for each nation.
How are they alike? What do the symbols and colors mean?
American Flag
Australian Flag
The Australian blogging buddies first connected on International Dot Day. Each class made a Connect the Dots at our School presentation.
Mrs. Yollis Skyped into Miss Jordan's class at Barwon Heads Primary School. A topic of discussion was Vegemite.
After the International Dot Day post was published, comments started rolling in. Here are some blog comments between the Australian and American classes. The topic of vegemite came up again!
Will, Jake S., and Mila Replied to Daisy:
Daisy, From Australia, Replied to Mila and Jake:
As luck would have it, one of our parents is from the Land Down Under! Sam's father was born in Victoria, Australia, and came to the class to share about Australia and give everyone a sample of Vegemite!
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| Photo by Mrs. Yollis |
First, our Aussie friend talked about his native country. Students looked at a map of Australia. Why do people in the northern hemisphere call Australia the Land Down Under?
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Next, it was time to have some Vegemite! Sam's father brought in bread, a toaster, butter, and Vegemite.
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After tasting the Vegemite, students were surveyed.
Do you like Vegemite, yes or no?
20 yes
3 no
Students lined up for seconds! Vegemite was a hit!
A big THANK YOU to Sam and his family for providing this special treat of Vegemite!
What did you learn about Australia?
Please thank Sam's father for his contribution. (Do not used last names. Always limit personal information on the internet!)
What would you like to know about Australia?
Dear Mrs Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteI'm so excited to read that your class is continuing to learn about Australia.
How fantastic that one of your parents is from Australia and was willing to share with your students.
I wonder if Sam has ever been to Barwon Heads? It is in the state of Victoria where he was born.
I was shocked to see the results of the Vegemite poll. I have heard that many Americans don't like Vegemite although I'm sure Sam showed the students the right way to have it. Vegemite on hot buttered toast is certainly yummy!
Would anyone in your class like to visit Australia one day?
Keep up your wonderful quality commenting too.
Your friend down under,
Mrs Morris
Dear Mrs. Morris-
DeleteI like learning about Australia. I learned that Americans call it "Down Under." I was really glad that we got to taste Vegemite. I liked it a lot. It tasted a little salty, but it was still really good.
I would really like to visit Australia one day to see your school, the Sydney Opera House, and to swim in the Great Barrier Reef.
Have you ever been to California? Maybe one day you can visit our class and bring us more Vegemite!
Benjamin
Hi Benjamin,
DeleteThank you so much for your wonderful reply!
I'm so glad you enjoy learning about Australia.
You're right about Vegemite. It is pretty salty. So it wouldn't be a good idea to have TOO much on your toast. My children like eating Vegemite and cheese sandwiches. I like it with peanut butter too.
I hope you get to visit Australia one day. The Sydney Opera House and the Great Barrier Reef are definitely icons worth visiting.
I am lucky enough to have visited California twice. The last time I visited was five years ago and I stayed with Mrs and Mr Yollis! It was so much fun. I hope to come back one day. I'd love to visit you and bring lots of Vegemite. :)
Best wishes,
Mrs Morris
Dear class,
ReplyDeleteLast Friday, my parents and my baby sister came to my class to bring Vegemite for everyone to try. I got the idea when we started blogging with a class in Australia and Daisy asked whether we tried Vegemite.
My siblings and I have been eating Vegemite on toast since we were babies. My youngest sister (who is 13 months old) loves eating Vegemite every morning and says “more” since she loves it so much.
I thought it would be great for my dad (who was born in Melbourne, Australia) to come to our class and make Vegemite sandwiches. My dad brought a loaf of bread, butter, a new jar of Vegemite, napkins, a knife, a toaster and paper plates. My dad toasted the bread and then spread butter onto the bread. He then spread a thin amount of Vegemite on top of the butter. He cut the sandwiches into quarters and passed it out.
My classmates really enjoyed eating it and even asked for seconds! I think it would be fun to try food from other countries.
Thank you!
Kind regards,
Sam and his mom
Hello Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteVegemite? I always have a jar in my refrigerator. I sometimes have it on toast or in sandwiches. It's something I have had since a child.
It is one of those products people seem to love or hate. I can remember one person saying it tasted like axle grease but that made me wonder when they had eaten axle grease.
I have a link to one of the earliest TV ads for Vegemite. The song tells us the children are "happy little Vegemites". The ad appeared in the early days of television.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yA98MujNeM
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia
Hello Mrs. Yollis and class,
ReplyDeleteVegemite? I always have a jar in my refrigerator. I sometimes have it on toast or in sandwiches. It's something I have had since a child.
It is one of those products people seem to love or hate. I can remember one person saying it tasted like axle grease but that made me wonder when they had eaten axle grease.
I have a link to one of the earliest TV ads for Vegemite. The song tells us the children are "happy little Vegemites". The ad appeared in the early days of television.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0yA98MujNeM
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia
Hello again Mrs. Yollis and Class,
ReplyDeleteI forgot to add a little about Vegemite to my comment.
A number of years back an English company bought the rights to Vegemite and it passed from Australian ownership but, over the last year, an Australian company, Bega Cheese, bought back the rights to Vegemite. Vegemite is Australian again.
Of interest, Bega Cheese is a local company to me and produces my favourite cheese. My mother's family has had a long history with Bega Cheese and earlier cooperative cheese companies. My cousin is still a dairy farmer in the area supplying milk to Bega Cheese. My family has been in this area since 1848 so celebrate 170 years in 2018. They migrated from Scotland and became dairy farmers.
Ross Mannell
Teacher (retired), N.S.W., Australia
@Mrs.Yollis,
ReplyDeleteI would like to say that I have recently tried an appealing sandwich spread: cookie butter! Our teacher brought in a banana, bread, and some cookie butter. Our instructions were to write a list that told our teacher how to create a sandwich. Many students tried but did not succeed in making a sandwich. However, at the end, our teacher let us have bite sized cookie butter and banana sandwiches! They were delicious.
On a totally different note, how are Beverly and Panda?
Ever So Sincerely,
Xavier P.