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 2 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 textbook chapter about the voyage, written a century later, a recording of the crowd at the final match, a sports historian's book about the club, a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage, a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson, a scientist's notebook from her experiment
Primary sourceSecondary source
2.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a map drawn by an explorer on her journey, a school attendance list from 1920, a magazine article about the history of the railway, a website summing up the mayor's career, a class report about schools long ago, a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge
Primary sourceSecondary source
3.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery, a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route, an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse, a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward, a letter a soldier wrote home during the war, the speech the mayor gave at the opening
Primary sourceSecondary source
LessonPrint · RI.5.6 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary Source?
Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson — Secondary source 2. a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage — Primary source 3. a recording of the crowd at the final match — Primary source 4. a scientist's notebook from her experiment — Primary source 5. a sports historian's book about the club — Secondary source 6. a textbook chapter about the voyage, written a century later — Secondary source
2.1. a class report about schools long ago — Secondary source 2. a magazine article about the history of the railway — Secondary source 3. a map drawn by an explorer on her journey — Primary source 4. a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge — Primary source 5. a school attendance list from 1920 — Primary source 6. a website summing up the mayor's career — Secondary source
3.1. 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 letter a soldier wrote home during the war — Primary source 4. a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route — Secondary source 5. an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse — Primary 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.