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 25 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 photograph taken at the opening of the bridge, a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage, a class report about schools long ago, a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908, a magazine article about the history of the railway, a sports historian's book about the club
Primary sourceSecondary source
2.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a letter a soldier wrote home during the war, an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse, a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route, a museum guide explaining the 1908 fair, a ticket from the first train to run on the line, a history book about floods in the region
Primary sourceSecondary source
3.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a newspaper report written on the day of the flood, a school attendance list from 1920, a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery, an online reference article about the bridge, a map drawn by an explorer on her journey, a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward
Primary sourceSecondary source
LessonPrint · RI.5.6 · Set 25 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary Source?
Set 25. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. a class report about schools long ago — Secondary source 2. a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage — Primary source 3. a magazine article about the history of the railway — Secondary source 4. a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge — Primary source 5. a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908 — Primary source 6. a sports historian's book about the club — Secondary source
2.1. a history book about floods in the region — Secondary source 2. a letter a soldier wrote home during the war — 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 ticket from the first train to run on the line — Primary source 6. an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse — Primary 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 map drawn by an explorer on her journey — Primary source 4. a newspaper report written on the day of the flood — Primary source 5. a school attendance list from 1920 — Primary source 6. an online reference article about the bridge — Secondary source
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to RI.5.6 of the Common Core State Standards for English Language Arts.