1
Introduction
Anecdotes are great teaching material, as they tell us humorous stories about a real person,
regardless of whether it might or might not be true. It does not matter whether this person is a
historic personality of importance or someone we personally know, they are frequently used
and eagerly told. However, they are not frequently used in the classroom, although they have
great potential for creating interesting and motivating lessons.
The following lesson aims to make use of an anecdote to introduce the topic of small
talk, a means of communication that is of high importance for daily communication in
English-speaking communities, as well as many others. Small talk has its own dynamics and
rules, which are deeply rooted in culture. Understanding them should be part of every
student’s agenda, as a proper conversation with any native speaker does not work well
without at least some kind of small talk.
The following anecdote by Franklin D. Roosevelt is quite prominent and exists in
many different versions. We chose the following:
Roosevelt was often bored by the tedious small talk that was required of him at social
functions. He often felt as if those with whom he conversed were seldom paying attention to
what was said. To prove his point, sometimes Roosevelt would begin a conversation by
saying, "I murdered my grandmother this morning." Often these words were met with polite
approval. On one occasion, however, an attentive listener gave the witty reply, "I'm sure she
had it coming to her."
(http://history.inrebus.com/index.php?category=7)
We choose this particular anecdote, next to the advantages of short stories, for the
following reasons:
1. it introduces small talk: the topic of the anecdote is the topic of the lesson
2. it contains a so called critical incident: students are presented with an
unknown cultural circumstances (small talk). Critical incidents are an
important factor of intercultural training and learning.
3. it deals with a historical person: the lesson can be embedded in a larger
context, such as the political system of the USA, presidency, history of the
USA.
4. funny and confusing: the anecdote serves as a good lead-in for small talk
and the confusion that will hopefully arise, allows for certain questions to be
asked and for easy bridging to the main topic.
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2
Planning
With the previous in mind, we developed a lesson around our anecdote and the topic of small
talk. The lesson aims at Gymnasium grade 8 students. Legal basis (Rechtsgrundlage) for the
lesson is the Lehrplan des bayrischen Kultusministeriums for the subject English as first
foreign language. 1 Some of the aims described by the Lehrplan include the increase of
fluency in speech and the ability to master complete conversations (including beginning,
continuing and closing a conversation). Small talk meets with this requirement, as it allows
short, natural conversations about known topics, hence strengthening the student’s oral
expression. Another requirement by the Lehrplan is the ability to understand cultural
differences and act accordingly and to have historical and social knowledge about the UK and
the USA. As small talk is an important part of communication in both countries, it is
important for students to know its dynamics. Furthermore, the content of the chosen anecdote
concerns a prominent figure of American history, meeting again with the requirements of the
Lehrplan.
The lesson is designed for 45 minutes and should take place either early in school year,
so the teacher can engage the students in small talk for the rest of the term, or at the beginning
of a larger teaching unit concerning itself with the history or the political system of the USA.
To further deepen the understanding of small talk, follow-up lessons should include small
sections of small talk during class.2
The aim of the lesson is to get the students acquainted with the structure and
mechanisms of small talk and show its socio-cultural importance. After the lesson, they
should be able to engage, carry and end a short conversation using certain conversational
phrases. Furthermore, students are to apply reading strategies such as skimming and scanning,
strengthening their reading competence.
1
http://www.lehrplanplus.bayern.de/fachlehrplan/gymnasium/8/englisch/1-fremdsprache.
07.08.2015; 12:58
Last
Access:
2
Proposal: Small talk can be used as a warm-up for every lesson. The teacher engages with small talk with one
or two students at the beginning of every lesson. Seizing this opportunity, every lesson can include new
conversational phrases. At the end of a term, students will have collected a broad variety of conversational
phrases and are ready to use them.
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3
Lesson Structure
After a warm-up activity of the teacher’s choice, the anecdote is introduced by the Global-toDetail-Approach. The students are let into the reading by showing a picture of Roosevelt.
Instead of just introducing the person, the teacher should have the students guess about the
person and give a short introduction of the person. Possible aspects of the introduction could
include:

President of the United States (POTUS)

First president to serve more than 2 terms (terms in office)

Sickness (polio) and wheelchair
Afterwards the students are presented with the anecdote, either on transparency or
worksheet, and are to read for global comprehension …better: T reads out … Vocab
problem in punchline: “have sth coming to one” …. Apart from questions regarding
vocabulary, they should be confused about the content of the anecdote. The teacher should
guide the confusion to the question: “What is weird with the conversation?”, and note down
the question on the blackboard. The students are now asked to scan the text for answers. In
the last phase, the students should come to the following conclusion:
“What is weird with the conversation?”
(1)
(2)
(3)
Roosevelt saying he murdered his grandmother.
Weird remark is answered with polite approval.
Funny answer by the guest.
Following up the outcome of our question, we can now lead over to small talk,
explaining the structure and mechanisms of it. This may be done in an interactive way,
creating a mind map on the black board (open blackboard, middle section). The mind map
should contain the following key questions for guidance:
Proposals:
 What? What is small talk?
Social conversation/ polite/ unimportant content
 How? How do I have small talk?
Three phases =beginning, continuing, ending/ topic taboos (politics, money, religion)/
formal and informal/ small talk phrases3
 Why? Why do I have small talk?
Politeness/ part of Anglo-American culture/ to “break the ice”
3
Phrases known by the students should be noted down separately.
5
 Where? Where do I have small talk?
Parties/ when meeting someone/ bus stop/
More information can be added, depending on what the students already know about small
talk. During this activity, the teacher should tease the answers out of his/her students to create
a dynamic activity and active motivation. The activity should be closed by having a look at
the question “What is weird with this conversation?” once more. Considering what they just
learned about small talk, they should be able to draw some conclusions for the 3 findings:
Proposals:
(1)
Roosevelt saying he murdered his grandmother.
 He didn’t want to make small talk as usual or he thought people didn’t listen
anyways.
(2)
Weird remark is answered with polite approval.
 Content is not so important with small talk or they are too polite to react
shocked/amused.
(3)
Funny answer by the guest.
 This is the actual funny part! The guest seriously responded to what Roosevelt said
or he was trying to be funny.
The conclusions should be written down underneath the findings for documentation.
The lesson is to be concluded by handing out the work sheet Resource 4 – Homework. The
students are given two tasks to choose from: either writing a formal or informal small talk
dialogue. In addition, the work sheet contains some phrases that may be used. In the next
lesson, the students could either play or read out their dialogues.
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4
Material
4.1
Lesson plan
Author: Unknown (history.inrebus.com)
“I murdered my grandmother”
Synopsis:
Franklin D. Roosevelt makes
inappropriate small talk with guests at a
social function and receives a funny
answer in return from one of his guests
(Anecdote).
Topics:
Small Talk, American President
Level:
Threshold (B1), Grade 8 Gymnasium
Time:
45 minutes
Procedure:
A. Global-to-Detail Reading
1) Lead-In:
Showing a picture of Roosevelt (Resource 1 – Picture of F.D. Roosevelt)
Vocabulary: POTUS, polio, president, to serve a term, wheelchair, Oval Office
2) First Reading:Skimming (Resource 2 – Anecdote on paper or transparency)
3) Global Comprehension:
Question on blackboard: What is weird with the conversation?
Vocabulary: tedious, social function, seldom, to prove ones point, approval,
occasion, attentive, witty
4) Second Reading: Scanning (Resource 2 – Anecdote on paper or transparency)
5) Detailed Comprehension:
Students should catch up on (note on blackboard)
(1) Roosevelt saying he murdered his grandmother.
(2) Weird remark is answered with polite approval.
(3) Funny answer by the guest.
B. Introducing the Topic of Small Talk
Developing a mind map on the blackboard about the characteristics of small
talk. Headings: What? How? Why? Where? (Resource 3 – Mind Map)
C. Ergebnissicherung
Going back to questions (1) (2) and (3) and trying to answer them (taking into
account the mind map from section B.)
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Homework: Resource 4 - Homework
4.2
Resource 1- Pictures … Quellen!!!
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4.3
Resource 2 – Anecdote
Roosevelt was often bored by the tedious small talk that was required
of him at social functions. He often felt as if those with whom he
conversed were seldom paying attention to what was said. To prove
his point, sometimes Roosevelt would begin a conversation by saying,
"I murdered my grandmother this morning." Often these words were
met with polite approval. On one occasion, however, an attentive
listener gave the witty reply, "I'm sure she had it coming to her."
Source: (http://history.inrebus.com/index.php?category=7)
4.4
Resource 3 – Mind Map & Blackboard Layout
Left
Known small talk phrases
Center
Right
What is weird with the
conversations?
(1)
Roosevelt saying he
murdered his
grandmother.
(2)
Weird remark is
answered with polite
approval.
(3)
Funny answer by the
guest.
Explanation:
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4.5. Resource 4 – Homework … Quelle?
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5
Sources
Web-based Sources
Lehrplan:
Staatsinstitut für Schulqualität und Bildungsforschung München:
http://www.lehrplanplus.bayern.de/fachlehrplan/gymnasium/8/englisch/1-fremdsprache; last
access: 07.08.2015; 12:58
Anecdote:
History jokes, famous anecdotes and short funny stories:
http://history.inrebus.com/index.php?category=7
Pictures:
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/7e/Rooseveltinwheelchair.jpg;
last access: 06.07.2015; 11:45
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/80/Franklin_D_Roosevelt_in_the
_Oval_Office_-_NARA_-_195978_rotated_%26_cropped.jpg; last access: 06.07.2015; 11:43
http://sport-job-blog.de/wp-content/uploads/2012/06/SMalltalk.jpg; last access: 08.07.2015;
14:50
4.5.???
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