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 4 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.

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: The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776, Paul Revere's 1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre, A historian's book about women in the Revolution, A museum sign explaining what happened at Yorktown

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A biography of George Washington written in 2005, A website summary of the Boston Tea Party written last year, Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776, James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson, The Constitution as it was signed in 1787, A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war, A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 4 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era

Set 4. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A historian's book about women in the Revolution — Secondary 2. A museum sign explaining what happened at Yorktown — Secondary 3. Paul Revere's 1770 engraving of the Boston Massacre — Primary 4. The Declaration of Independence, signed in 1776 — Primary
2.1. A biography of George Washington written in 2005 — 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. James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention — Primary
3.1. A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war — Primary 2. A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought — Secondary 3. An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson — Secondary 4. The Constitution as it was signed in 1787 — Primary

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