German Desk Strips

Remember Elementary School when you had those desk strips with a number line and the cursive alphabet?

I recently saw some desk strips on Bridget Smith's TPT.  She has two sets of French desk strips available for free - one with common vocabulary and the other with rejoinders.  I loved the idea so much I thought I'd make my own for German.

I made three small strips, each with five phrases in German (English included as well).  I printed them in color, had them laminated, then tapped them to student desks using clear shipping tape.  You just have to line up the ends and maybe cut off a phrase or two to get them to fit to a student desk.  I found that each desk had room for 2 1/2 of the strips I'd made.

I'm very glad I laminated them ahead of time - it made it easier to re-do some of my worse taping jobs.  It took me a while to get a good rhythm going, so the first few desks admittedly look a little messy.  In addition to desks, I have a two tables where students sit.  I had a lot of trouble getting the tape to stick to one of the tables - I'm not sure if it was dirty or humid or what.

Although I just used plain printer paper, it might be a good idea to use card stock.

They're super colorful and have phrases that I think the kids will like and use (but that don't come up in the textbook).  I don't know how many times students have asked me how to say "I don't care" or "Never mind."  Now it's all right there in front of them!

Click here to get these colorful desk strips from my TPT page.


- Frau Leonard