English 3

Oral production activity unit 8

Topic: An anecdote

Dear Students,

You will participate in an assignment of making a video telling us a personal anecdote, one in
which you express emotions.

Here the steps to complete the assignment:

Step 1:
Read some tips about telling a story or personal anecdote. You can watch the video too.
Here is the link:
http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/tell-story-or-personal-anecdote

Step 2:
After watching the video and reading the tips, choose one of these options:
a. Talk about a holiday you have had.
b. Talk about a difficult journey you’ve had.
c. Talk about a perfect day you’ve had.
d. Talk about a special event you’ve had.in your life.
e. Talk about the most special birthday you’ve had.
f. Talk about a time when you lost something important.
g. Talk about a time when you gave someone a surprise.
h. Any other funny, sad, or annoying anecdote you’ve had
Source: http://learnenglishteens.britishcouncil.org/exams/speaking-exams/tell-story-or-personal-
anecdote

Step 3:
After you have chosen one of the topics, prepare your script.

Sample script
Hi, my name is Rosa. One day I was lying in bed at 7 a.m. on a sunny morning. I was excited because it
was my birthday. My family was still asleep. I woke them up. I said, “"Hey everyone, do you know what day
it is?" My mom said, “May 15th." "And ...? “ I asked. She immediately replied, "And you have a
9 a.m. appointment with the dentist today. You have to get up!"
I was upset. “My mother forgot my birthday," I thought while I was brushing my teeth.
"Bye, Mom," I told her. I was trying to seem calm and relaxed. I just thought we would go to a restaurant
for lunch.
I went to the dentist. I wasn't nervous there. The pain didn't even bother me. I was thinking
about my birthday, and I was feeling lonely and kind of tired. "Even my best friend forgot to phone!" I
thought.
When I came home, I slowly opened the door. "Surprise!" All my friends and relatives were
smiling and laughing.
"Happy birthday, Rosa," said my mom. And she said, "Do you forgive me?” She was a bit nervous. I was
surprised.
That was a very special day to me in the end. I was so excited.

Adapted from English Discoveries Basic 3 Unit 8 Lesson 2

 English 3

Step 4:
Record yourself on a video telling us personal story, one in which you express emotions. Narrate
it and make it as interesting as possible.
Here are some things to keep in mind while recording your video:

 Speak as clearly as possible.

 Smile.
 Be in a well-lit area.
 Be confident.
 Look at the camera when you speak.
 Don’t just read.

Some guidelines to make your video:

 Use vocabulary and grammar structures studied in Unit 8:

 past progressive
 adjectives to express emotions
 appropriate vocabulary about drama and special days

 Your video should last about 1 minute or 1 minute and a half (1’-1’30).
 Use youtube.com to make the video. Test your video works well before sending the link.
Change video privacy setting to “Public” so your teacher can view it.
 You can also use any other software to make your video.
 You have to paste the link of your video and the script (the script is referential) in the
Forum section on Blackboard.
 Use the template below (See page 3).

Assessment criteria:

 pronunciation and intonation

 fluency
 accuracy
 task achievement (clarity and use of webcam)

This task is due on Sunday, February 10th at 23:59 p.m.

 English 3

Oral production activity unit 8

Topic: ______________________________________________

Student: ____________________________________________________________
Course: _____________________________________________________________

Link to video: _______________________________________________________

Script:
Hola, soy Edward, te contaré una anécdota que me sucedió en mi cumpleaños número 17.
Ese dia mi familia habia planeado salir a almorzar al restaurante Rustica. Cuando
estabamos esperando al taxi al frente de mi casa. Mi papa se olvido su celular asi que el
volvio a la casa. Despues de 8 minutos nosotros estabamos aun esperando a mi papa asi que
mi hermana va a la casa a ver que paso. y resulta que mi papa se habia olvidado de cerra el
caño del baño y se habia inundado de agua la sala. tubimos que limpiar y secar toda la sala.
terminamos todos cansado que decidimos ir al resaurante mas cercano que era Norkys. fue
gracioso por que mi papa queria cecar la sala solo por eso es que se demoro en salir de la
casa.

Hi, I'm Edward, I'll tell you an anecdote that happened to me on my 17th birthday. That
day my family had planned to go out to lunch at the Rustica restaurant. When we were
waiting for the taxi in front of my house. My dad forgot his cell phone so he went home.
After 8 minutes we were still waiting for my dad so my sister goes to the house to see what
happened. and it turns out that my father had forgotten to close the bathroom pipe and the
room had been flooded with water. We had to clean and dry the whole room. We all ended
up tired that we decided to go to the closest restaurant that was Norkys. It was funny
because my dad wanted to leave the room alone, that's why he delayed leaving the house.

This task is due on Sunday, February 10th at 23:59 p.m.

English 3