I'm thinking that this would make a great first or second day of school activity for a second year language classroom. I can't say for sure because I've not used it yet, but if the structures fit, use it, right?! Begin the lesson by introducing the structure me hace pensar en - it makes me think about by writing it on the board in Spanish (with a black marker) and English (with a blue marker). You could also show Slide #2 in the file (linked at the end of this post). Then, show students the first image; the image of the toilet. Model a response before you ask the question to students: "Esta foto me hace pensar en mis hijos, Ellis y Leland, porque yo lavo muchos pañales aquí". (This picture makes me think of my boys because I wash a lot of diapers here".) Use vocab that you know your students learned last year, and talk about a PERSON or PEOPLE of whom it reminds you. Then, circle your answer. "¿Me hace pensar en mis hijos?" (sí). "¿Me hace pensar en mi esposo?" (no)...."¿En quién me hace pensar?" (en tus hijos). Try to get many repetitions out of the target structure "makes me think about" before you turn the question over to the students. Once you've done some good circling, ask the class for volunteers to talk about who the picture makes them think about! Circle and discuss their answers, pull in other students, expand and embellish their responses, and maybe even turn it into a story. Spend time on the pictures that produce compelling material, and skip over the ones that don't resonate with anyone. The next day, type up a transcript of sorts of your class discussion, and read it together.
This slideshow has the potential to recycle a lot of previous vocabulary, help students get to know one another, and leave everyone laughing. Sounds like a good first day to me, eh? Let me know how it goes if you use it! Also, if you teach a language other than Spanish and wouldn't mind, would you write the translations for "it makes me think about", "it makes him/her think about", "it makes you think about", and "Who does it make you think about?" in the comments? I'll add a translation for any language that you comment on. Gracias :)
