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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 17 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.Should a historian use only one kind of account?
  • A.Yes, firsthand only
  • B.Yes, secondhand only
  • C.No — each supplies what the other cannot
2.A firsthand account says "I was the one who said it was nothing." What does the "I" tell you?
  • A.The writer is guessing
  • B.The writer was involved in the events
  • C.The account is fiction
3.Why might two accounts of one event disagree?
  • A.Each saw a different part and thought different things mattered
  • B.Accounts are always identical
  • C.One of them must be lying
4.Which is most likely to be firsthand?
  • A.A textbook chapter
  • B.An encyclopaedia article
  • C.A diary entry written that night
5.Which is most likely to be secondhand?
  • A.A photograph taken at the time
  • B.A report written years later from records
  • C.A letter written the same week
6.What can a secondhand account give that a firsthand one usually cannot?
  • A.The whole picture, including what one person could not see
  • B.Personal feelings
  • C.Direct speech
7.What makes an account firsthand?
  • A.It is written by somebody who was there
  • B.It is written first
  • C.It is longer
8.Which account would you use to know what the night was like?
  • A.The firsthand diary
  • B.The secondhand report
  • C.Neither

LessonPrint · RI.4.6 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Firsthand and Secondhand

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.No — each supplies what the other cannot
  2. 2.The writer was involved in the events
  3. 3.Each saw a different part and thought different things mattered
  4. 4.A diary entry written that night
  5. 5.A report written years later from records
  6. 6.The whole picture, including what one person could not see
  7. 7.It is written by somebody who was there
  8. 8.The firsthand diary

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.