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 3 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 children's book retelling the scientist's discovery, a recording of the crowd at the final match, a website summing up the mayor's career, a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward, a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge, a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage
Primary sourceSecondary source
2.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a newspaper report written on the day of the flood, a map drawn by an explorer on her journey, a history book about floods in the region, a class report about schools long ago, a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson, a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908
Primary sourceSecondary source
3.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: the speech the mayor gave at the opening, a letter a soldier wrote home during the war, an online reference article about the bridge, a scientist's notebook from her experiment, a textbook chapter about the voyage, written a century later, a magazine article about the history of the railway
Primary sourceSecondary source
LessonPrint · RI.5.6 · Set 3 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary Source?
Set 3. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery — Secondary source 2. a diary kept by a sailor during the voyage — Primary source 3. a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward — Secondary source 4. a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge — Primary source 5. a recording of the crowd at the final match — Primary source 6. a website summing up the mayor's career — Secondary source
2.1. a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson — Secondary source 2. a class report about schools long ago — Secondary source 3. a history book about floods in the region — Secondary source 4. a map drawn by an explorer on her journey — Primary source 5. a newspaper report written on the day of the flood — Primary source 6. a poster printed to advertise the fair in 1908 — Primary source
3.1. a letter a soldier wrote home during the war — Primary source 2. a magazine article about the history of the railway — Secondary source 3. a scientist's notebook from her experiment — Primary source 4. a textbook chapter about the voyage, written a century later — 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.