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 4 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 diary kept by a sailor during the voyage, an online reference article about the bridge, a history book about floods in the region, a map drawn by an explorer on her journey, a recording of the crowd at the final match, a children's book retelling the scientist's discovery
Primary sourceSecondary source
2.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: a sports historian's book about the club, a ticket from the first train to run on the line, a scientist's notebook from her experiment, a newspaper report written on the day of the flood, a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward, a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson
Primary sourceSecondary source
3.Sort each one: Primary source or Secondary source?
Sort: the speech the mayor gave at the opening, a website summing up the mayor's career, a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge, a class report about schools long ago, an interview with a woman who watched the eclipse, a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route
Primary sourceSecondary source
LessonPrint · RI.5.6 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary Source?
Set 4. 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 history book about floods in the region — Secondary source 4. a map drawn by an explorer on her journey — Primary source 5. a recording of the crowd at the final match — Primary source 6. an online reference article about the bridge — Secondary source
2.1. a biography of the soldier written by his great-grandson — Secondary source 2. a documentary about the eclipse made fifty years afterward — Secondary source 3. a newspaper report written on the day of the flood — 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 ticket from the first train to run on the line — Primary source
3.1. a class report about schools long ago — Secondary source 2. a modern atlas page showing the explorer's route — Secondary source 3. a photograph taken at the opening of the bridge — Primary source 4. a website summing up the mayor's career — 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.