So and such is a deceptively tricky grammar topic but luckily there’s an easy way to teach and learn it with guided discovery!

Download the worksheet below and print it out for your students before class.

Step 1: Guided Discovery (10 minutes)

Let students complete the first part of the worksheet on their own. This section of the worksheet is designed to let students understand the rules of “so” and “such” on their own without teacher explanations at this point. Students look at the examples and try to complete the examples on their own.

After everyone has finished, let them sit in partners and share their sentences. Tell them to check one another’s answers for grammar and spelling mistakes.

Step 2: Sharing Examples (10 minutes)

Project the following image onto the board.

Then call on a few students to share their examples with the whole class.

See who can come up with the funniest or most interesting examples.

Step 3: Fill in the Blank (10 minutes)

Let students complete the fill in the blank section on their worksheets. The answers are below.

1. He is __________ kind! Every time he sees me, he gives me a compliment.
2. Don and Lydia are __________ hard-working __________(noun). They have really helped the company succeed.
3. Nadia has __________ much patience. She teaches a class of 35 kindergartners, but she never shouts.
4. I had never seen __________ lizards before I visited the Galapagos, but there are hundreds of them on the islands.
5. That cake was __________ good that I ordered another one for Katelyn’s birthday party.
6. Arthur doesn’t have __________ big ideas of traveling the world. He is a simple man who prefers to spend his time with his grandchildren.
7. He’s __________ a crazy __________ (noun). He’s so unpredictable!

Answers: 1. so, 2. such…employees/workers, 3. so, 4. so many, 5. so, 6. such, 7. such…guy/person

Step 4: Describe the pictures

Now direct students to look at the pictures on the back of their worksheets. Put students in partners and tell them to describe the pictures using as many “so” and “such” sentences as they can.

After about five minutes, ask partners to describe the pictures out loud using “so” and “such.”

Be sure to provide feedback and correct any grammar or pronunciation errors you hear.

I hope your students had fun and are now experts with so and such.

If you want more intermediate grammar lessons, try Intermediate Lesson – Comparatives – 1 hour.