‒ ‘What is ‘Casablanca’?’ I asked students.
‒ ‘A street in Valdespartera; the very big one’, one of them said.
‒ ‘Yes, and the name of a sports club’ added another one with a smile.
‒ ‘And also the name of a neighborhood, the one which is close to Valdespartera, isn’t it?’ Another student asked.
Yes… ‘Casablanca’ is quite a popular name in Zaragoza. It refers to everything the students mentioned above, the closer to them being a large-and-busy-with-traffic avenue that crosses Valdespartera. But I enquired further:
‒ ‘OK, so, being the name of a street in Valdespartera, it must be a film title as well, right?’
‒ ‘Yes?! -they answered, revealing a mixture of surprise and this-argument-makes-sense-kind-of-thing.
Upon even further enquiry, it became clear that students in 1º B and D were not acquainted with the masterpiece Casablanca (1942) or the setting it refers to. It was then time to launch questions to awaken their curiosity and start the activities planned!
The project carried out in the class entailed engaging in different pre-, while- and after-watching the film tasks. We first talked about WWII, and about Casablanca, the Moroccan city in which the film is set. We likewise referred to Casablanca’s ‘special’ status during the conflict –it was part of Vichy France and a place of passage for people from different countries who tried to escape the war.
We then proceeded to watch the film in English. It’s indeed a complex text for first year students, so we engaged in the detailed explanation and discussion of its most relevant scenes as we watched it. The students’ first response to the film changed significantly as its plot was explained thoroughly: they started asking ‘Is there any action in the film?’ and ended up stating ‘It’s cool; I’m enjoying it’.
After watching the film, an interesting discussion about a number of issues started: we talked about the students’ favourite and least favourite characters, about the changes they undergo throughout the film (especially Rick Blaine), and about the main characters’ most important decisions (i.e.: Ilsa leaving Rick in Paris with no explanation; Rick allowing Laszlo and Ilsa to finally escape to Lisbon, etc.). Students were likewise requested to think about an alternative ending for the film. Last but not least, they were offered the chance to become actors and actresses for a while and read out some famous quotes from Casablanca –an activity which really enjoyed!
Some of the manifold aims of this cross-curricular activity were the following: a) improve their cultural knowledge by approaching a real filmic text in depth – adapting the analysis to the students’ age; b) acknowledge the relationship between history and the cultural productions it triggers, and c) improve their aural and oral skills.
I include below some of the students’ output:
Esther Pérez, English Teacher
Línea 54 