Smarter than a 3rd grader?

So, I went to my daughter's school to listen to the kids read the other day. They come and sit with you one by one and read a few pages from these books and then they answer a few questions when they are done.

This class has 1st through 3rd graders and several different levels of readers. And of course by nature some kids are smarter than others - either by genetics, natural selection, nothing else to do but study, their parents were nerds too or they know that they either need to learn something or will be working the drive-thru at Burger King reporting to Sam. Not Starbucks mind you, b/c at Starbucks the drive-thru is worked only by college grads. They keep their diploma on the coffee table and dont get a career on purpose to PISS their parents off. They do get pleasure out of saying things to their patrons to make them feel like a lesser not as highly educate person for pulling through the drive-thru in their BMW, wearing a business suit and buying 8 lattes and pastries for whatever meeting they are going to. Like 'HA, you poor sucker - you have to go suck up to people you dont even like, bring them coffee, and chat them up and I get to leisurely hang out here at the coffee shop drinking anything I want all day FREE ....' Next time I think I will ask for 8 separate checks and see what smart-ass comment Mr PHD has for me then! Just because I dont speak Latin and want to order a medium half coffee half milk on ice in plain English....snobs!

Meanwhile....back to the classroom. So, the questions at the end of the stories are things like 'what did the father do first?' 'What was the point of the story?' 'Why is it easier to break one stick than it is to break a bundle?' 'Do you find it racist that the story uses the word Indians?' HA - just kidding on that last one - seeing if you were asleep yet! So, the first couple of readers I had were first graders so the questions were easier and I could follow along and actually help out with the answers. By the 4th or 5th reader I had the smarty pants 3rd graders who breezed right through the stories and the questions. They were reading so fast I couldnt really check them b/c I was trying to figure out where they were!!! Well, I wasnt quite ready for this and having shiny object syndrome and all I had to look back on the story to see what some of the answers could have been. Well, when the 'what was the morale or point to the story?' question came up, I had no idea. I dont think I really listened to the story but only paid attention to the words that were being read. Keep in mind I had already heard it 2 times!!! I really had no idea what the morale of the story was to this huge long 3 page story that went on and on and on!

So, no I am not smarter than a 3rd grader! Or at least not these ones! How sad for them that I am the one checking their work and my only job is to make them feel good about it!