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Made at the Time or Made Later? is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on telling primary from secondary sources, aligned to C3 Framework indicator D2.His.9.3-5. 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 10 of 25 · the same problems every time you open this link.

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

Made at the Time or Made Later?

D2.His.9.3-5

NameDate

A primary source was made at the time. A secondary source was made later about the past. Sort each one.

1.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015, A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s, A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool, A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847

PrimarySecondary
2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A map a gold miner drew in 1848, A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995, A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush, General Order No. 3, issued in 1865

PrimarySecondary
3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: The census count of California taken in 1850, An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War, A forty-niner's diary from 1849, An information text written for a worksheet

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Made at the Time or Made Later?

Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.

  1. 1.1. A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015 — Secondary 2. A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s — Primary 3. A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847 — Primary 4. A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool — Secondary
  2. 2.1. A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995 — Secondary 2. A map a gold miner drew in 1848 — Primary 3. A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush — Secondary 4. General Order No. 3, issued in 1865 — Primary
  3. 3.1. A forty-niner's diary from 1849 — Primary 2. An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War — Secondary 3. An information text written for a worksheet — Secondary 4. The census count of California taken in 1850 — Primary

Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.9.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.