Skip to content
LessonPrint

Taking What You Need From a Source is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on gathering relevant information from sources, aligned to Common Core standard D3.1.3-5. It prints 2 questions with an answer key on its own sheet of paper, in 25 versions that each ask different questions, so no two pupils in the class work from the same page. Print it from the browser or download it as a PDF — no account, no email.

Set 19 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

Next setLesson plan

One paper per pupil

12345678910111213141516171819202122232425

Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.

Taking What You Need From a Source

D3.1.3-5

NameDate

Look at the source, then answer the questions.

1.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

A Modern History of the Valley

An extract from a local history book written in 2015. This is a SECONDARY work: the author was not there and is using the records. THE COMING OF THE RAILWAY The railway of 1846 transformed the valley within a decade. Canal traffic fell away and wharf families lost their living. The workhouse registers show the cost in admissions after 1846. Yet the line also brought fresh milk to market and new work as porters. The author argues the valley gained more than it lost, though not for everyone.

  1. 1. What year did the railway open, according to this book?
  2. 2. What does the author say happened to canal traffic?
  3. 3. What records does the author use?
2.Look at the source, then answer the questions.

Petition Against the Railway

A petition sent to Parliament in 1844 by canal workers and boat owners. To the honourable members, We are boatmen and wharf workers of this valley. The proposed railway will take the coal and corn we carry. Two hundred families live by the canal. We ask that the line be refused, or that work be found for us. Signed by 84 hands.

  1. 1. Why did the boatmen oppose the railway?
  2. 2. How many families lived by the canal?
  3. 3. Who sent this petition?

LessonPrint · D3.1.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Taking What You Need From a Source

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. 1846. 2. It fell away and wharf families lost their living. 3. The workhouse registers.
  2. 2.1. Because it would take the coal and corn they carried on the canal. 2. Two hundred families. 3. Boatmen and wharf workers of the valley.

More practice for D3.1.3-5

Gather what you need from several sources, choosing each for a reason.

Teaching this next? Taking Only What the Question Needs is the 45-minute plan for it, with the misconceptions to expect.

All Grade 3 to Grade 5 worksheets

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D3.1.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.