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 17 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 website that sums up the history of the missions, A newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find, A forty-niner's diary from 1849, A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s, The census count of California taken in 1850, An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War, A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A map a gold miner drew in 1848, A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool, A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847, A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 17 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Made at the Time or Made Later?

Set 17. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015 — Secondary 2. A forty-niner's diary from 1849 — Primary 3. A newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find — Primary 4. A website that sums up the history of the missions — Secondary
2.1. A historian's book about the railroads written in 1995 — Secondary 2. A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s — Primary 3. An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War — Secondary 4. The census count of California taken in 1850 — Primary
3.1. A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847 — Primary 2. A map a gold miner drew in 1848 — Primary 3. A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool — Secondary 4. A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush — Secondary

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