Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era is a free printable Grade 3 to Grade 5 social studies worksheet on telling primary from secondary sources about the founding, 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.
Set 1 has all 25 in a single PDF. All 25 sets ask different questions.
Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era
D2.His.9.3-5
NameDate
Sort each source: primary or secondary?
1.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?
Sort: A website summary of the Boston Tea Party written last year, A magazine article in which a historian explains the Stamp Act, Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776, The Constitution as it was signed in 1787
PrimarySecondary
2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?
Sort: A documentary film about the Constitution made in 2010, A 1775 newspaper report on Lexington and Concord, The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought
PrimarySecondary
3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?
Sort: A museum sign explaining what happened at Yorktown, A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution, A Continental soldier's diary written at Valley Forge, A British officer's 1775 report on the Battle of Bunker Hill
PrimarySecondary
LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 10 · free to copy for classroom use
Answer key — Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era
Set 10. Prints on its own sheet.
1.1. A magazine article in which a historian explains the Stamp Act — Secondary 2. A website summary of the Boston Tea Party written last year — Secondary 3. Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776 — Primary 4. The Constitution as it was signed in 1787 — Primary
2.1. A 1775 newspaper report on Lexington and Concord — Primary 2. A documentary film about the Constitution made in 2010 — Secondary 3. A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought — Secondary 4. The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 — Primary
3.1. A British officer's 1775 report on the Battle of Bunker Hill — Primary 2. A Continental soldier's diary written at Valley Forge — Primary 3. A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution — Secondary 4. A museum sign explaining what happened at Yorktown — Secondary
Last reviewed 2026-09-05. Aligned to D2.His.9.3-5 of the C3 Framework for Social Studies State Standards.