Fifth graders learn how historians tell firsthand evidence (primary sources) from later accounts (secondary sources), and sort real examples into the two groups so they can weigh evidence.
Students will be able to…
A soldier’s own diary or a textbook written 200 years later? Both are useful. How do historians tell firsthand evidence from a later account?
Project this and sort each source into primary or secondary — tap a source, then tap where it belongs.
Tap any phase to open the teacher moves and student actions.
To learn about a battle, would you trust a soldier's own diary or a textbook written 200 years later? Both are useful, but they are not the same kind of evidence.
Students sort sources as primary or secondary.
Students judge a source.
Students find both kinds.
Students reflect on sources.
Aligned to the C3 Framework for Social Studies and Common Core literacy in social studies.
Summarize how different kinds of historical sources are used to study the past.
Compare information provided by different historical sources about the past.
Generate questions about multiple historical sources in an investigation.
Analyze multiple accounts of the same event, noting similarities and differences.
Preview the three formative checks. Tap “Sample answer” to see what mastery looks like — hide them before you print for students.
Have students pick a topic, find one primary and one secondary source, and say what each tells them, so the difference becomes a research habit. A printable primary-and-secondary-sources worksheet is in the Social Studies library.
Tap a card to flip it, then rate whether you knew it. Built from this lesson’s vocabulary.
A quick self-check with instant feedback, drawn from this lesson’s key terms.
A print-and-go review sheet with a built-in answer key. Tap “Show answer key” to reveal answers, or print the clean version for students.