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 19 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 forty-niner's diary from 1849, A map a gold miner drew in 1848, A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015, 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 newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find, A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s, An information text written for a worksheet

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847, A website that sums up the history of the missions, A photograph of a mining camp taken in 1850, An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 19 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Made at the Time or Made Later?

Set 19. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A biography of Abraham Lincoln written in 2010 — Secondary 2. A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015 — Secondary 3. A forty-niner's diary from 1849 — Primary 4. A map a gold miner drew in 1848 — Primary
2.1. A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s — Primary 2. A newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find — Primary 3. A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush — Secondary 4. An information text written for a worksheet — Secondary
3.1. A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847 — Primary 2. A photograph of a mining camp taken in 1850 — Primary 3. A website that sums up the history of the missions — Secondary 4. An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War — Secondary

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