Cross- Curricular Activities

Cloud in a Jar Experiment
- Materials: jar with a lid, cup of hot water, ice cubes, hairspray
- Steps:
  - 1. Pour hot water (not boiling) into jar.
  - 2. Swirl water around jar.
  - 3. Place lid upside down on top of jar and fill lid with ice cubes.
  - 4. Remove lid quickly and spray small amount of hairspray into jar, replace lid quickly (may need one person to spray and one person to replace lid).
  - 5. Watch as cloud forms inside jar, once filled lift lid to watch cloud escape!
- Why it works: For a cloud to form, you first need warm, moist air, which the hot water provides. Then, you need a cooling system (the ice cubes!). Finally, you need a cloud condensation nucleus (particles for the water vapor to condense); this was provided by the particles in the hairspray.

Using a map of the entire world and a map of the United States, invite children to locate the different countries/states/cities they’ve lived in and/or have been to. Have children describe how life was different or similar in these places.

Measurement Hunt – Give each child a ruler and time to roam around the room, have them measure different items and log their findings on a sheet of paper. Come back together to compare findings and to find larger lengths as a group, such as size of room or table.
After learning about all the places where people have lived or visited (see social studies activity), take time to learn about the distance between those places and where you are now. Have your group or child make a guess at the distance first, then go online to discover the actual distance. To further demonstrate how far away a place is, convert your findings from miles to feet or miles to inches.

Create six Mood Masks, created from paper plates, yarn, markers, tape, and tongue depressors. Facial expressions and labels should reveal happy, sad, surprise, scary, angry, sleepy.
- Read a description (phrase/sentence) or show an illustration from the book and have a child identify the mask that best describes the feelings of either Maria, Jin, or Fatimah from that moment. Invite children to also identify the emotion they would feel if they were one of the characters in the book.
Explore the Misty the Cloud books by meteorologist Dylan Dreyer. These books follow Misty, a cloud with big feelings, as she learns all about the emotions she is experiencing. Watch a read aloud with the author here!

Simile: A comparison between two different things designed to create an unusual, interesting effect often using words such as ‘like’ or ‘as… as a’.
- Examples: “He was as sly as a fox.” “She was brave like a lion.” Can you find any similes in I’m New Here? What things are being compared?
- Start a simile for children and have them complete the phrase.
  - i.e. “as calm as ______”, “fast like ______”, “as colorful as _____”

Creating a Conversation About: Welcoming Immigrants & Refugees – Host your own community or classroom event surrounding I’m New Here by following an event kit provided by author, Anne Sibley O’Brien. It walks you through each step you will need to take to plan and put on your event, and includes resources such as conversation starters, poster templates and a coloring sheet. Access the kit here!

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