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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 13 of 13

Firsthand or Secondhand?

Compare accounts by people who were there with accounts written later.

What your child practices

Children practice telling firsthand accounts (diaries, letters, interviews) from secondhand ones (textbooks, reports, biographies) and what each kind shows best.

Alaska content standards learning standard: RI.4.6 · comparing firsthand and secondhand accounts of the same event

How we explain it

Children can open this short lesson before they practice.

  1. A firsthand account is by someone who was there: a diary, letter or interview.
  2. A secondhand account is written later by someone who wasn’t there: a textbook or report.
  3. Firsthand shows feelings up close. Secondhand often gathers facts from many sources.

Example: Which is most likely a firsthand account of a volcano erupting: a letter from a family nearby, or an encyclopedia page? Firsthand means the writer saw it. The family lived nearby and saw it. Answer: a letter from a family who lived nearby

Firsthand or Secondhand? in Alaska

In the Alaska content standards, this is unit 13 of 13 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Spelling Rules.

Gradelings describes a child's practice on this unit as Beginning, Approaching, Meeting or Exceeding (Four practice steps). That reflects practice, not a report-card mark: the teacher decides the mark.

Source: Alaska Department of Education and Early Development

Sample questions

A taste of this unit. In the app, questions change every time and get easier or harder to match your child.

  1. Question 1

    Jay writes a report using his grandmother's answers. His report is…

    • a secondhand account
    • a diary
    • a firsthand account
    • a poem

  2. Question 2

    A photo taken at an event is a…

    • secondhand account
    • legend
    • summary
    • primary source

  3. Question 3

    Which is most likely a firsthand account of a volcano erupting?

    • an encyclopedia entry written later
    • a website summary
    • a letter from a family who lived nearby
    • a cartoon about volcanoes

  4. Question 4

    Jay interviews his grandmother about her first day of school. Her answers are…

    • a secondhand account
    • a firsthand account
    • a myth
    • a summary

  5. Question 5

    Why might two accounts of the same event be different?

    • each writer saw or learned different things
    • they were printed in different fonts
    • one must be a fairy tale
    • events never really happen

  6. Question 6

    Why might a firsthand account of a parade focus on one float?

    • the writer stood near that float
    • only one float was in the parade
    • the writer was not there
    • secondhand accounts never mention floats

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