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

One paper per student

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25

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 Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s, An information text written for a worksheet, The census count of California taken in 1850, A biography of Abraham Lincoln written in 2010

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush, A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847, An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War, A forty-niner's diary from 1849

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995, A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015, A map a gold miner drew in 1848, General Order No. 3, issued in 1865

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 15 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Made at the Time or Made Later?

Set 15. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A biography of Abraham Lincoln written in 2010 — Secondary 2. A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s — Primary 3. An information text written for a worksheet — Secondary 4. The census count of California taken in 1850 — Primary
2.1. A forty-niner's diary from 1849 — Primary 2. A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847 — Primary 3. A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush — Secondary 4. An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War — Secondary
3.1. A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015 — Secondary 2. A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995 — Secondary 3. A map a gold miner drew in 1848 — Primary 4. General Order No. 3, issued in 1865 — Primary

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