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 7 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: A Continental soldier's diary written at Valley Forge, A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought, A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war, A documentary film about the Constitution made in 2010

PrimarySecondary

2.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776, An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson, James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention, A historian's book about women in the Revolution

PrimarySecondary

3.Sort each one: Primary or Secondary?

Sort: A biography of George Washington written in 2005, A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution, The Constitution as it was signed in 1787, A 1775 newspaper report on Lexington and Concord

PrimarySecondary

LessonPrint · D2.His.9.3-5 · Set 7 · free to copy for classroom use

Answer key — Primary or Secondary? The Founding Era

Set 7. Prints on its own sheet.

1.1. A Continental soldier's diary written at Valley Forge — Primary 2. A documentary film about the Constitution made in 2010 — Secondary 3. A letter George Washington wrote to Congress during the war — Primary 4. A modern atlas map showing where the battles were fought — Secondary
2.1. A historian's book about women in the Revolution — Secondary 2. Abigail Adams's letter to John Adams, 1776 — Primary 3. An encyclopedia article about Thomas Jefferson — Secondary 4. James Madison's notes taken during the Constitutional Convention — Primary
3.1. A 1775 newspaper report on Lexington and Concord — Primary 2. A biography of George Washington written in 2005 — Secondary 3. A fifth-grade textbook chapter on the Revolution — 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.