King Koopa’s Cup is a conversation-based card game suitable for ES (grades 5 & 6), JHS & SHS students. It’s an all-out mini-game mania geared at encouraging English conversation and FUN!
This activity is designed for English Day Camp events and requires multiple ALTs (1 ALT per group of students). However, I have also included an alterative classroom version (for 1 ALT + OTE) that relies on a higher level of learner independence. It may be suitable for older students/higher English level students.
Disclaimer: I am not the original creator of this activity. I learned it from my senpai ALTs who learned it from theirs (credit and much appreciation to whoever came up with this awesome activity!).
Each time, I’ve played this game, different themes, mini-games and twists were added. I’ve attached my version that was used at a JHS English Day and an ES (grade 5 & 6) English Day. Feel free to tailor the activity to your event and share your version - the possibilities are endless!
INSTRUCTIONS:
In groups, students take turns drawing cards from a standard 52-card deck and play mini games that correspond to the number/face of each card as described on the game play guide. (For detailed instructions, see the game play guides attached!)
MATERIALS:
- 1 Timer
- x Standard decks of playing cards
- x Mini Whiteboards, markers and dry earsers
- x Sticker sheets
- x Sets of ALT colour cards
- x King Koopa’s Cup Game Play Guides
- x Decks of Kuribo cards
- x Decks of Koopa cards
- 1 King Koopa’s Cup ALT Score Sheet
[x =number of groups in the class]
This game looks like a lot of fun, I'd love to try it with my class! I just wanted to know a bit more about how you run it. How long do you give each round and do you get the students to reshuffle the deck at the end of each round so that more stickers can go around?
For the classroom version, I've done it two ways with different classes/grade levels. The first was a single 35-minute round of continuous play with 15 minutes reserved for greetings, setup/explanations and a wrap-up at the end. This was a lower-level English class, so we took things a bit slower. Since it was a single round, there was no need to reshuffle, and there were enough cards to last! The second was two 20-minute rounds, with 10 minutes for explanations & wrap-up. This class had a much higher English level, so the game moved faster. At the end of the first round, we reshuffled and started again. Between the rounds, we checked to see how many stickers students had and who was in the lead of winning! It added to the excitement in the second round. Hope this helps!