Cover lesson · Languages, Literacy and Communication · Year 5 · Intermediate

Organising the files for a class audiobook

DCF: Interacting and collaborating → Storing and sharing

Also assessed, LNF: Numeracy → Number system → Calculation

Name: Class: Date:

Cover teacher: you need no subject knowledge

What this practises: saving and organising digital files so they can be found again and are not lost. An (invented) Year 5 class has recorded an audiobook of the Welsh legend The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach, but the 12 files on their tablet have unhelpful names, copies and a test recording. Pupils make a naming rule, rename the files, plan folders, decide what to delete, and plan a backup. To check the tidy project fits the class’s space on the school shared drive, they add and subtract the file sizes, which are decimals (such as 3.4 MB). That written calculation is the numeracy (calculation) evidence.

Print: this sheet, one per pupil. Everything pupils need is on it. No computers are needed. If pupils ask: MB means megabytes, a way of measuring how much space a file takes up.

Run: 5 min read “What you are doing” and the file screen together · 7 min Step 1 · 10 min Step 2 · 8 min Step 3 · 14 min Step 4 · 8 min Step 5 · 5 min Step 6 · 3 min swap and check with a partner. Total 60 minutes.

Collect: this sheet. The numeracy (calculation) evidence is Step 4 (folder totals and space left, with working) and the backup question in Step 5. Answers: all 12 files 28.4 MB; deleted files 7.0 MB; tidy project 21.4 MB; space left 3.6 MB; chapter 5 (about 4 MB) does not fit, by 0.4 MB; laptop space left after the backup 8.6 MB.

What you are doing

Class 5 at Ysgol Llanddeusant recorded an audiobook of the Welsh legend The Lady of Llyn y Fan Fach. Each chapter was read aloud by a different pupil, and some pupils drew pictures. Everything was saved on the class tablet in a hurry. Now nobody can find anything! Your job is to organise the files so anyone can find them, nothing is lost, and the project fits on the school’s shared drive. The school, the pupils and the files are invented for practice.

The files on the tablet

Pretend file screen · Class 5 tablet · Recordings and Pictures (all in one place)
FileName nowWhat is in it (Mr Jones’s note)Size
A Recording 14.m4aChapter 1 audio, read by Nia3.4 MB
B Recording 15.m4aChapter 2 audio, read by Owen4.1 MB
C chapter thing.m4aChapter 3 audio, read by Leah2.8 MB
D Recording 15 (copy).m4aAn exact copy of file B4.1 MB
E new new FINAL.m4aChapter 4 audio, read by Sam3.7 MB
F IMG_2041.jpgPicture of the lake, drawn by Nia2.5 MB
G IMG_2042.jpgPicture of the lady rising from the lake2.6 MB
H IMG_2042 (1).jpgAn exact copy of file G2.6 MB
I script.docxScript for chapters 1 and 20.2 MB
J script 2.docxScript for chapters 3 and 40.2 MB
K Untitled.jpgCover picture for the audiobook1.9 MB
L Recording 16.m4aA test: “testing, testing, 1, 2, 3”0.3 MB

Step 1: what is wrong?

a) Give 2 reasons why the names Recording 14.m4a and new new FINAL.m4a are not helpful.

b) Which 3 files are not needed? Write their letters and say why.

FileWhy it is not needed

Step 2: make a naming rule and rename the files

A good file name tells you which project it belongs to, what is in it and, for chapters, which chapter. Keep the ending after the dot (.m4a, .jpg, .docx), because it tells the tablet what kind of file it is.

My naming rule: ______________________________________________________

Write a new name for each file you are keeping.

FileNew name
A
B
C
E
F
G
I
J
K

Step 3: plan the folders

Name the main folder and the 3 folders inside it. Under each folder, write the letters of the files that go in it.

Step 4: will it fit on the shared drive?

The school gives each class project 25 MB of space on the shared drive. Show your working for each answer.

QuestionWorking and answer
a) What is the total size of all 12 files? Would they fit in 25 MB?
b) What is the total size of the 3 files you are deleting?
c) What is the total size of the tidy project? Find it in 2 ways: subtract b) from a), then add up each folder.
d) How much of the 25 MB is left?
e) Chapter 5 has not been recorded yet. It will last about 4 minutes, and each minute of audio takes about 1 MB. Will it fit in the space left? By how much is it over or under?

f) What could the class do so that chapter 5 fits? Give one idea.

Step 5: don’t lose the work

Last week Sam recorded chapter 4 three times. He saved the third try over the second one, then found the second one was better. It was gone.

a) Give 2 ways the class could stop work being lost.

b) Mr Jones will keep a backup copy of the tidy project on his laptop. His laptop has 30 MB free. How much space will be free after the backup? Show your working.

Step 6: test your names

Someone types ch3 into the search box on the tablet. Which of your new file names would appear? Would any of the old names have appeared? Why does this matter?

Step by step

  1. 7 min Spot the problems with the files.
  2. 10 min Make a naming rule and rename 9 files.
  3. 8 min Plan the folders.
  4. 14 min Work out whether the project fits on the shared drive.
  5. 8 min Plan how not to lose work.
  6. 5 min Test your names with a search.

Success criteria

If you finish early