After beginning chapter one of "To Understand", by Ellin Keene, I have been uneasy about Jamika's comments. If you think about what does "make sense mean" really mean to a second grader. I they can retell a story, answer questions about it, and learn new vocab they have a good memory, not an understanding ("make sense") of the point. I wonder how many elementary school children feel the same way as Jamika did. If understanding is relating one's experiences with an authors message, how are young children, with very little experiences, supposed to understand an authors message?