Part A / Part B questions — what the testing world calls "evidence-based selected response" or EBSR — are now on most state reading tests. They show up on PARCC, Smarter Balanced, FSA, STAAR, and most state-built assessments. They are also one of the question types where strong readers lose the most unnecessary points.
The reason isn't comprehension. It's procedural.
How Part A / Part B works
A Part A question asks for a theme, main idea, inference, or character trait. Part B then asks which detail from the passage BEST supports the answer in Part A.
The scoring rule is the part most students miss: the two questions are graded together. A correct Part A with a wrong Part B is wrong. A wrong Part A with a "correct" Part B is wrong. Students need both right or they get zero.
This grading rule is what makes EBSR brutal for students who would otherwise be solid readers. They get the theme right in Part A, then pick the most "dramatic" sentence in Part B without checking whether it actually supports their Part A answer. Lost points everywhere.
The two-stage habit
The single intervention that fixes this is teaching the two-stage habit:
Stage 1 (Part A): Read the question. Read all four answer choices. Choose the one that fits the passage as a whole. Underline the choice in the test booklet.
Stage 2 (Part B): For EACH of the four answer choices in Part B, ask: "Does this sentence directly support my Part A answer?"
- If it supports a DIFFERENT answer than the one I picked in Part A, throw it out.
- If it is true but doesn't connect to my Part A answer, throw it out.
- The remaining choice (or the most-connected choice) is the answer.
Critically: if no Part B answer connects to the Part A answer the student picked, that is a signal to go back and re-check Part A. The student likely picked the wrong main idea.
This is the single most powerful test-taking habit you can teach for 5th grade reading. Drill it on every EBSR practice item until students do it automatically.
Why "the most dramatic sentence" is usually wrong
Test writers know how 5th graders read. Wrong answers in Part B are usually built around sentences that:
- Are emotionally vivid (a character cries, shouts, runs)
- Contain a fact that is true but tangential to the main idea
- Restate a single detail rather than the broader theme
A correct Part B answer is usually a sentence that summarizes a turn in the passage — the moment when the character or topic changes direction, or the sentence that names the central idea most directly. It's often not the most "dramatic" line.
Teach students to ignore the drama. The right Part B sentence is the one that makes the Part A answer obviously true.
What to look for in a passage before reading the questions
Train students to do a 10-second scan before reading the questions:
- What's the title? (Often a strong main-idea clue.)
- Who or what is the passage mostly about?
- Is it fiction or informational?
- For fiction: who is the main character, what do they want, and does that change?
- For informational: what is the topic, and what is the author saying ABOUT the topic?
That 10-second scan tees up the main idea before students see the question. Then Part A becomes a much faster choice and Part B becomes easier to filter.
The packet
I built a 5th grade test-prep packet with 4 original passages and 16 paired Part A / Part B questions in the exact format students see on state tests. Every question has an answer key with explanation.
5th Grade ELA Test Prep: Reading Comprehension Part A / Part B — $4
What's inside:
- 4 original passages (2 fiction, 2 informational)
- 16 paired Part A / Part B questions
- Topics: theme, main idea, character inference, fact vs. opinion
- Complete answer key with worked explanations
Standards: RL.5.1, RL.5.2, RI.5.1, RI.5.2. Single classroom license.
The takeaway
EBSR questions reward procedural discipline as much as comprehension. A 5th grader who reads at a strong 5th grade level can lose half the EBSR points on a test by skipping the cross-check between Part A and Part B. Teach the two-stage habit, drill it, and watch scores move.