CROSSFIRE
Full Class Testing or Listen-and-Respond Activity
materials: prepared sentences or questions, or make them up as you go
time: 5-15 minutes     

  CROSSFIRE is a testing activity that needs to be used judiciously.  As a game, it can be quite fun for the students (especially those sitting and watching).  Students intuitively understand the testing nature of the activity, however;  many students just don’t like to be one of a few students standing while all the others are sitting and watching.  For the teacher, though, it is very convenient for checking students' oral production accuracy: for example, after introducing or practicing some words, structures or gestures, and before moving into an activity that doesn’t allow for direct teacher error surveillance.  We often play CROSSFIRE before playing the ConFluency Card Game.
    All of the language skills contained in Card Sets One and Two can be practiced in CROSSFIRE (click to see a list of the Conversation Skills).  It's easy if you use the same Skills Posting Cards from the Q-Card and S-Card activity.  Practicing the Conversation Skills in CROSSFIRE, and calling them by the same name used on the ConFluency Cards, prepares the students to play the card game.  It also helps them to learn and practice the Life-Long Language Learning Skills and skills that lead to conversational fluency.  

  HOW TO PLAY CROSSFIRE  

  With the classroom set up with the desks in rows, choose one row -either front-to-back or side-to-side- to stand.  After the teacher says a sentence or asks a question, the student with the first hand up can respond.  If the response is correct, this student may sit down (if incorrect, the student remains standing, and the next fastest student may respond).  This pattern continues until there is one original student standing.  At this time, the line of students ninety-degrees opposed to the original line and containing the last standing student, stand and become the responders.
    Continue play until the students sufficiently understand the correct patterns for responding to be able to continue to the next activity.

  CROSSFIRE PATTERNS

• (Teacher -> Student) 
• Question -> Answer 
• Question -> A + 1 Answer
• Question -> Answer (+1) & Repeat the Same Question
• Question -> Answer (+1) & Ask Another Question
• (Teacher 1) Question -> (Teacher 2) Answer (+1) -> (Student) Follow-Up Question
• Question -> Answer (+1) -> (Teacher) Pardon? -> (Student) Repeat
• Sentence -> Say the Same Sentence (Listen -> Repeat, or L & R.  Great for introducing new patterns.)
• Sentence -> Say Another Sentence
• Sentence -> Say Another Sentence -> (Teacher) Pardon? -> (Student) Repeat