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Firsthand and Secondhand is a free printable Grade 4 English worksheet on telling the two kinds of account apart, aligned to Common Core standard RI.4.6. It prints 8 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 15 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Firsthand and Secondhand

RI.4.6

NameDate

Tick the right answer.

1.What makes an account firsthand?
  • A.It is written by somebody who was there
  • B.It is longer
  • C.It is written first
2.Which is most likely to be secondhand?
  • A.A letter written the same week
  • B.A photograph taken at the time
  • C.A report written years later from records
3.A firsthand account says "I was the one who said it was nothing." What does the "I" tell you?
  • A.The account is fiction
  • B.The writer is guessing
  • C.The writer was involved in the events
4.Should a historian use only one kind of account?
  • A.No — each supplies what the other cannot
  • B.Yes, secondhand only
  • C.Yes, firsthand only
5.What can a secondhand account give that a firsthand one usually cannot?
  • A.Direct speech
  • B.Personal feelings
  • C.The whole picture, including what one person could not see
6.Which is most likely to be firsthand?
  • A.A textbook chapter
  • B.A diary entry written that night
  • C.An encyclopaedia article
7.Which account would you use to find out how many houses flooded?
  • A.The diary, which gives one house
  • B.The secondhand report, which gives totals
  • C.Neither
8.What can a firsthand account give that a secondhand one usually cannot?
  • A.What it felt like to be there
  • B.Accurate totals
  • C.A balanced overview

LessonPrint · RI.4.6 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Firsthand and Secondhand

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.It is written by somebody who was there
  2. 2.A report written years later from records
  3. 3.The writer was involved in the events
  4. 4.No — each supplies what the other cannot
  5. 5.The whole picture, including what one person could not see
  6. 6.A diary entry written that night
  7. 7.The secondhand report, which gives totals
  8. 8.What it felt like to be there

More practice for RI.4.6

Compare an eyewitness account with a second-hand one.

Teaching this next? Firsthand and Secondhand Accounts is the 40-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 4 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.4.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English language arts.