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 2 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: An information text written for a worksheet, An encyclopedia article on the Mexican-American War, The census count of California taken in 1850, A map a gold miner drew in 1848

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool, A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847, A forty-niner's diary from 1849, A website that sums up the history of the missions

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find, A textbook chapter about the Gold Rush, A Lakota winter count painted on a hide in the 1870s, A documentary film about the Plains made in 2015

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 2 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Made at the Time or Made Later?

Set 2. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A map a gold miner drew in 1848 — 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
2.1. A forty-niner's diary from 1849 — Primary 2. A letter a soldier wrote home in 1847 — Primary 3. A museum sign written in 2020 explaining a mining tool — Secondary 4. A website that sums up the history of the missions — Secondary
3.1. 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 newspaper report printed in 1848 about the gold find — Primary 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.