Abstract:

Oral history is one of the data collection methods of history. Besides, this method is used as a teaching method in all school levels. In those studies, generally, the results which obtained by interviewing with older people are analyzed and written by students. However, when the studies are conducted in primary school, there are activities such as drawing an ancestry tree and making a box museum. In the content of this study, primary school students (4th Grade) were taught oral history method and the students are asked to inquire their history of families. Then, students inquired their family histories, drew their family trees, and tried to write stories of their families. The aim of the study which is based on the action research model is to uncover the experiences of students, who learn family histories, draw the family trees of their family, and write their families’ stories using the oral history method. The working group of study, which is determined according to purposive sampling technique, is formed from 30 students. As data collection tools are used open-ended surveys, family trees drawings, and family stories which are written by students. This research results have shown that the students, who used oral history, liked the method, they got to know their own families and near environment closely, they make comparisons, and they perceived change and continuity. In spite of some problems, they have drawn their family trees and wrote family stories.

Keywords: