The Incredible Pali Holly Dolan READ Week 2 Application

The Basics Pali is a 10 year old 5 th grader who loves to explore nature. He has lived in Maryland for approximately 17 months.

The Basics Continued… He is originally from the West Bank, and although his native language is Arabic, he also speaks fluent Hebrew and Portuguese. – He learned the Portuguese language while participating in a mentoring experience with a student from Bethlehem University during first grade Pali is learning how to speak, understand, read, and writing English.

The Basics Continued… Pali’s family came to the United States after his father’s furniture shop was burned down. He currently lives in townhome with his father, mother, seven siblings, his aunt, uncle, and their 3 children. Pali qualifies for the Free and Reduced Meals program. Pali’s largest academic challenge centers on phonics and decoding. When assignments are translated into languages with which he is fluent, he demonstrates strong comprehension skills; however, he continues to struggle with a language barrier.

Funds of Knowledge: Linguistic As previously noted, Pali is fluent in several languages: – Arabic – Hebrew – Portuguese He is working hard to learn English

Funds of Knowledge: Cultural Pali brings with him a plethora of unique cultural habits and beliefs, including: – He appears to respond more effectively and efficiently to men – He does not appear to have an appreciation for standard education

Funds of Knowledge: Family Pali is very close with his father and older brothers. He appears to feel protective of his younger siblings, especially his sisters. Pali has an emerging relationship with his aunt, uncle, and three cousins. He reports that he likes them all except for his oldest cousin who he finds “mean.”

Funds of Knowledge: Experiences Pali brings with him a multitude of unique experiences, including: – Living and attending school in an active war zone – Moving across the world – Living in a multi-family dwelling

Funds of Knowledge: Practical Prior to the tragic fire which caused his family’s relocation, Pali indicated that he planned to take over his father’s furniture store Pali has made several wood figurines and distributed them as gifts and tokens of affection Pali appears to have a keen sense of how to maneuver the public transportation system.

CCSS Strengths Pali appears to enjoy writing and is largely successful with grammar when provided with direct instruction; consequently, it can be assumed that he will find success in regards to the CCSS writing standards

CCSS Challenges Pali struggles with decoding; as a result it will be difficult for him to read texts at the CCSS prescribed level of complexity until he is able to master this.