Quote or Summary

This focused informational reading worksheet helps students in Grades 4, 5, and 6 strengthen source-evaluation, close reading, and critical reasoning skills through an engaging passage about Jane Goodall. Students examine statements drawn from the text and determine whether each one is a direct quote (primary source) or a summary (secondary source), using clear definitions to guide their decisions and explanations.

Learning Goals

• Primary vs. Secondary Source Identification (Grades 4-6): Distinguish between original quoted words and summarized information.
• Understanding Quotes vs. Summaries: Recognize how wording signals firsthand evidence versus retelling.
• Reading Informational Text Closely: Analyze sentence structure and language to determine source type.
• Evidence-Based Reasoning: Explain classifications using definitions and text features.

Instructional Benefits

• Teacher-Created Resource: Designed by educators to align with upper elementary ELA and social studies standards.
• Precision-Focused Practice: Helps students slow down and read carefully for exact wording.
• Builds Research Readiness: Strengthens skills needed for citing sources and evaluating evidence.
• Flexible Classroom Use: Ideal for social studies units, literacy centers, homework, or assessment.

This printable worksheet helps students become more accurate and thoughtful readers by learning to tell the difference between direct quotes and summaries. By classifying statements as primary or secondary sources and justifying their reasoning, learners strengthen comprehension, source analysis, and critical thinking skills. Whether used in a classroom or homeschool setting, this resource provides meaningful practice with informational text, evidence evaluation, and historical reasoning.

This worksheet is part of our primary vs. secondary sources worksheets collection.