C1CEFRSpeaking20 min

Class activity: Expedition Log Unscramble

Deep-sea exploration and mining

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C1 Advanced English Unit: Deep-Sea Exploration

🌊 Deep-Sea Expedition Log Unscramble

Make strong sentences with So & Such

🚢⚓
🚢⚙️

1. Rules of the Game

Teacher Setup

Activity Briefing

  1. 1 Divide the class into small teams of 3 to 4 students as expedition loggers.
  2. 2 Hand out one full set of 6 scrambled cards and log sheets to each team.
  3. 3 Tell teams that every sentence needs the verb before the subject, except Card 5.
  4. 4 Keep time strictly using the 20-minute plan and circulate to facilitate peer discussion.
  5. 5 Have teams swap log sheets for peer marking using the provided Teacher Key.
Student Mission

Expedition Instructions

  1. 1 Your goal is to unscramble deep-sea expedition log cards into dramatic inverted sentences.
  2. 2 Rearrange the scrambled word tiles on each card and write the final log on your log sheet.
  3. 3 Card 5 keeps normal word order. "Little" is the subject, so it does not swap places.
  4. 4 Earn 2 points for the exact sentence, or 1 if just two tiles are swapped, plus 1 bonus point for each Unit word.
  5. 5 The team with the highest final log score wins the Deep-Sea Expedition Badge!
⏱️

2. Timed Plan (20 Minutes Total)

2m
Step 1

Hand out the cards and log sheets. Name a score keeper in each team.

3m
Step 2

Read rules aloud & highlight inversion patterns.

8m
Step 3

Teams unscramble Cards 1-6 onto log sheet.

3m
Step 4

Swap log sheets with partner team for marking.

2m
Step 5

Reveal Teacher Key & calculate final scores.

2m
Step 6

Wrap up with closing questions & announce winner.

🎴

3. Expedition Log Tile Cards

Unscramble & Invert
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 1 (start with So):
that the crew missed it faint was So the sonar signal
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full inverted sentence...)
1
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 2 (start with Such):
was that the window cracked the pressure at the bottom Such
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full inverted sentence...)
2
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 3 (start with So):
is that sunlight never reaches the floor deep So the trench
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full inverted sentence...)
3
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 4 (start with Such):
that firms search the seabed is Such the demand for metals
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full inverted sentence...)
4
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 5 (start with So):
little that nobody can name its animals is known about the trench So
⚠️ Special Order
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full log sentence...)
5
🌊🚢 Expedition log
Card 6 (start with So):
did So the pilot steer the submersible that nothing was damaged carefully
Your Team Log Sentence: ____ (Type full inverted sentence...)
6
📋

4. Log Sheet

Team Name / Log Entry

📝 Write your sentences in the table and list the Unit words you used (seabed, trench, sediment, uncharted, submersible, sonar, vessel, mineral, ore, mining):

Card Your sentence Unit words used Points
#1 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
#2 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
#3 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
#4 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
#5 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
#6 ________________________________________ ______________ __ / 2
🏅

5. Scoring Rules

2

Exact Sentence

Award 2 points for the exact sentence, with every tile in the right place.

1

Minor Swap

Award 1 point if the sentence is correct except for just two swapped tiles.

+1

Unit Word Bonus

Award +1 bonus point for every valid Unit word correctly embedded in the log sentence.

✏️

6. Inversion Sentence Starters

Practice Extension

Finish each sentence out loud or on paper. Use the same word order and a Unit word:

1. Starter 1 (uncharted seabed)
So vast is the uncharted seabed that...
2. Starter 2 (minerals / sediment)
Such was the concentration of minerals in the sediment that...
3. Starter 3 (submersible)
So deep did the submersible plunge that...
4. Starter 4 (mining risk)
Such is the environmental risk of ocean mining that...
5. Starter 5 (sonar / vessel)
So clear were the sonar readings from the vessel that...
6. Starter 6 (ore value)
Such is the value of deep-sea ore that...
🔑

7. Teacher Answer Key

Official Solution

The six sentences, and a mistake to listen for:

1
So faint was the sonar signal that the crew missed it.
So + describing word, then was, then the thing
2
Such was the pressure at the bottom that the window cracked.
Such + was + the thing
3
So deep is the trench that sunlight never reaches the floor.
So + describing word, then is, then the thing
4
Such is the demand for metals that firms search the seabed.
Such + is + the thing
5
So little is known about the trench that nobody can name its animals.
ℹ️ Note: normal order. "Little" is the subject, so the verb stays after it.
6
So carefully did the pilot steer the submersible that nothing was damaged.
So + how it was done, then did, then who did it
⚠️ Common Oral Mistake Cue Listen for word-order errors:

Incorrect S-V order: "so deep the trench is that..."

The verb has to come before the subject: "so deep is the trench that..."

so deep the trench is that
💡

8. Activity Variations & Differentiation

Level 1: Easy

Anchor Words

Provide the starter word (So / Such) and the main verb pre-anchored on the whiteboard to guide struggling loggers.

Level 2: Standard

Standard Unscramble

Run the standard activity as printed: all tiles shuffled on cards; teams construct complete inverted sentences independently.

Level 3: Hard

No Word Tiles

Remove word tiles entirely! Give teams only prompt keywords (sonar, faint, miss) to construct full inverted logs from scratch.

⚡ Fast-Finishers

Extra Log Creation

Challenge fast teams to write 2 additional original log entries using target Unit words (uncharted, vessel, ore) with inversion.

❓

9. Reflection & Closing Questions

3 Reflection Prompts

1. Why do writers use inversion with "So" and "Such" in expedition logs and formal report writing?

2. Which log card was the trickiest to unscramble, and why is Card 5 different from the others?

3. How does changing the word order change the feeling of a log sentence about a deep-sea discovery?

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