USING LITERARY MATERIALS IN TEACHING SOCIAL STUDIES.

In the teaching process of Social Studies course, which includes many disciplines including literature, students have chance to increase their interest in different subjects and to develop their mental skills as well. In this context, the study aimed to determine the opinions for prospective teachers and middle school students about the use of literary materials as teaching/learning materials in the Social Studies course. The research was structured via a basic qualitative study model. The participants of the study were composed of 7 fourth-year students in the Department of Social Studies Education at a state university, and 20 sixth grade students, at a public middle school in the centre of Kars province, east of Turkey. The study was conducted in the spring semester of 2019-2020 academic/school year. The data were collected using the voice recording technique based on a semi-structured interview form developed by the researcher, and analysed via explanatory and inferential coding method. The results showed that, both the prospective teachers of Social Studies and the 6^th grade students who participated in the study were of the opinion that the use of literary materials helped a lot to increase inclass participation, and provided an enjoyable teaching/learning atmosphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]