[susan53]

The context I always use is a memory of meeting for the first time someone who later turned out to be a very special friend. The meeting contextallows for sentences like He came into the room, and I remember he was wearing a brown velvet jacket and carrying a briefcase
The way I would do it is -

a) tell the anecdote to the students as a listening activity

b) in pairs they retell it to each other

c) at class level they then retell it to me - this checks comprehension and allows me to see if they've picked up on the structures - which I then formally present on the board.

If it's an initial presentation I'd then do :

d) some written "Put the verbs in the correct form" exercises.

If it's revision, and they seem to have got it (probable at Upper Int level) I'd go straight on to :

e) Pair work - I ask them to think of a time when they met someone special (a teacher, a friend, their husband) for the first time and to tell their partner. The teacher monitors, and if the anecdotes weren't told particularly well, does a full-class correction phase then changes the pairings and lets the students repeat the anecdote. At the end, a few good students tell the class their partner's story (to give them an added challenge).

Hope that helps.
Sue