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4th grade · English Language Arts · Unit 13 of 20

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.

New York State Learning Standards learning standard: 4R6 · comparing a primary and a secondary source on 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 New York

In the New York State Learning Standards, this is unit 13 of 20 in 4th grade English Language Arts, after Spelling Rules and before Clues in Texts.

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: New York State Education Department (NYSED)

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

    Maya writes in her diary about the flood in her town that day. What is it?

    • a fairy tale
    • a firsthand account
    • a secondhand account
    • a poem about the sea

  2. Question 2

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

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

  3. Question 3

    Which is a firsthand account?

    • a quiz about planets
    • an astronaut's journal from space
    • a book about astronauts by a teacher
    • a poster about rockets

  4. Question 4

    A photo taken at an event is a…

    • summary
    • legend
    • secondhand account
    • primary source

  5. Question 5

    A textbook tells about a flood that happened 100 years ago. What is it?

    • a secondhand account
    • a firsthand account
    • a diary
    • an interview

  6. Question 6

    A diary is a firsthand account because…

    • the writer tells about their own life
    • it is short
    • it is about history
    • it has a lock

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