Primary or Secondary Source? is a free printable Grade 5 English worksheet on telling a source made at the time from one written later, aligned to Common Core standard RI.5.6. It prints 3 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two students in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.
Set 13 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Primary or Secondary Source?
RI.5.6
NameDate
Sort each one into the right column.
1.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route, a map drawn by an explorer on her journey, a history book about floods in the region, a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge, a museum guide explaining the 1908 fair, a newspaper report written on the day of the flood
Primary sourceSecondary source
2.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse, a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward, a website summing up the mayor's career, a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908, a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery, a ticket from the first train to run on the line
Primary sourceSecondary source
3.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a school attendance list from 1920, an online reference article about the bridge, a class report about schools long ago, a scientist's notebook from her experiment, the speech the mayor gave at the opening, a sports historian's book about the club
Primary sourceSecondary source
LessonPrint · RI.5.6 · Set 13 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary Source?
Set 13. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. a history book about floods in the region — Secondary source 2. a map drawn by an explorer on her journey — Primary source 3. a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route — Secondary source 4. a museum guide explaining the 1908 fair — Secondary source 5. a newspaper report written on the day of the flood — Primary source 6. a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge — Primary source
2.1. a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery — Secondary source 2. a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward — Secondary source 3. a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908 — Primary source 4. a ticket from the first train to run on the line — Primary source 5. a website summing up the mayor's career — Secondary source 6. an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse — Primary source
3.1. a class report about schools long ago — Secondary source 2. a school attendance list from 1920 — Primary source 3. a scientist's notebook from her experiment — Primary source 4. a sports historian's book about the club — Secondary source 5. an online reference article about the bridge — Secondary source 6. the speech the mayor gave at the opening — Primary source
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.5.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.