Session 5: File Operations & Typing Fluency
At a glance: pupils can copy, cut, paste, rename, delete and restore files, insert and safely eject a pen drive, and reach from home row to the top-row vowels. · Time: 90 minutes (adjust the timings if your period is shorter) · Workbook pages: 6
Learning outcomes
By the end of the session, pupils can:
- Explain the difference between Copy and Cut, use Ctrl + C, Ctrl + X and Ctrl + V, and undo a mistake with Ctrl + Z.
- Rename a file with F2 using the BIH naming standard.
- Delete a file and restore it from the Recycle Bin, and explain why emptying the bin is final.
- Insert a USB pen drive gently and eject it safely.
- Type top-row letters by reaching from home row and snapping back.
Before the session
- Check each pupil's Documents, BIH_Practice folder and Profile file from Session 4 are still there. If the PCs reset, have pupils quickly recreate them first (Page 5 of Session 4).
- Bring two or three clean club pen drives with nothing personal on them. Scan them for viruses on a mentor PC first. Pupils do not use their own drives today.
- Check the Recycle Bin is on each desktop and that deleted files go there (not straight to permanent deletion).
- Open The Filing Tree lab on the projector PC and test it. Keep an offline copy on USB.
Running order
| Time | Activity | Workbook | What the mentor does |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0–10 min | Typing warm-up | – | Pupils open the typing trainer (Typing in the menu, or the warm-up banner on the session page) and do the 10-minute warm-up. Walk round checking posture and home-row fingers. |
| 10–20 min | Recap, Copy vs Cut analogy, F2 rename, Ctrl + Z undo | Page 1 | Act out the photocopier and moving a desk from JHS 1 to JHS 2. Show Ctrl + Z undoing a rename. |
| 20–30 min | Deleting and the Recycle Bin, Check Your Knowledge | Page 2 | Demonstrate delete and restore on the projector. Ask Kwesi's question. |
| 30–40 min | USB pen drives and safe ejection | Page 3 | Show the USB tongue rule and the eject routine with one club drive. |
| 40–50 min | 3D lab: The Filing Tree | None | Demonstrate on the projector, then pairs try the missions. |
| 50–69 min | Guided file operations lab | Page 5 | Pupils do challenges 1 to 5. Check each step on screen before they move on. |
| 69–79 min | Top-row reach and the fluency drills | Pages 4–5 | Model reach-and-snap-back. Pupils type each drill three times in Notepad. |
| 79–90 min | Review and sign-off | Page 6 | Go through the answers together, then sign off. Pass the club drives round for an eject check. |
Key ideas and how to explain them
- Copy is a photocopier, Cut is moving a desk: copy leaves the original and makes a twin. Cut moves the original, so the old spot is empty. The X in Ctrl + X looks like scissors.
- The Recycle Bin is the classroom wastepaper basket: you can reach in and pull your homework out again, until the bin is emptied. Then it is gone for good. Files deleted from a USB pen drive, or with Shift + Delete, skip the bin completely.
- Eject before you pull: pulling out a drive while the computer is saving can corrupt the files on it. Wait for the "Safe To Remove Hardware" message.
- Accuracy over speed: 20 words a minute with no errors beats 40 with ten mistakes. Reach up, strike, snap back home.
The 3D lab
Use The Filing Tree again. On the projector, demonstrate the copy mission (click a file, press "Copy", then click the target folder) and the move mission with "Cut", pointing out that the file leaves its old folder. In pairs, pupils then rename a file using the BIH standard, delete a file and watch it fly into the Recycle Bin, and rescue it by clicking the grey bin. This is a safe rehearsal for the real Page 5 lab.
Common mistakes and quick fixes
| Pupils often… | Try this |
|---|---|
| Press Ctrl + V without copying or cutting first | Nothing happens, or the wrong thing pastes. Select, then C or X, then V. |
| Paste into the same folder after a Cut | Open the target folder (Notes) first, then press Ctrl + V. |
| Cannot find the Notes subfolder in step 4 | They skipped the last line of step 1. Create it now with right-click, New, Folder, and name it Notes. |
| Type ".txt" when renaming, giving Profile_Backup.txt.txt | Type the name only. Windows keeps the .txt ending. Press Ctrl + Z or F2 again to fix it. |
| Cannot find the ^ arrow or the USB icon to eject | On some Windows versions, open File Explorer, right-click the drive under This PC and choose Eject. |
| Use the index finger for E and I in Drill 1 | Both are middle-finger reaches (D to E, K to I), as Figure 5.3 shows. |
When things go wrong
- No internet: nothing here needs the internet. Use the USB copy of the lab.
- Not enough PCs or pen drives: pairs share a PC and take turns at each challenge. Pass the club drives round the room so every pupil inserts and ejects one at least once.
- A PC freezes or the power goes: if a pen drive was plugged in, check its files once power returns, and explain that this is exactly why we eject first. Restart and carry on from the last finished challenge.
Answer key
Check Your Knowledge (Page 2) No. Emptying the Recycle Bin removes the file permanently, so there is nothing left to restore. Restore only works while the file is still in the bin.
Match the keyboard shortcut
- Ctrl + C: copy (duplicate) the selected file.
- Ctrl + X: cut (move) the selected file.
- Ctrl + V: paste the item you copied or cut.
- Ctrl + Z: undo the last mistake immediately.
- F2 key: rename the highlighted file instantly.
Written review questions
- Copy & Paste, because it leaves the original on the school computer and puts a twin on the friend's pen drive. Cut would remove your own copy.
- Pulling the drive out while the computer is still saving can corrupt or destroy the files on it.
- The left middle finger (it reaches up from D to E).
Support and stretch
- Needs more support: do challenges 2 and 5 only (copy and restore) with a mentor beside them, saying each shortcut aloud.
- Finished early: copy their profile file to a club pen drive, eject it safely, then plug the drive into a different PC and open the file. They can also type Drill 3 with no errors three times in a row.
Evidence for sign-off
Before you sign, watch the pupil do all of these:
- Explain Copy vs Cut in their own words.
- Make a copy, rename it with F2, and move it into Notes with Cut and Paste.
- Delete TrashMe.txt and restore it from the Recycle Bin.
- Insert a pen drive gently and eject it, waiting for the safe-to-remove message.
- Type Drill 1 using the correct reaching fingers.
Safety and wellbeing
Pupils delete only their own scrap file (TrashMe.txt), never anyone else's work, and must ask a mentor before emptying the Recycle Bin on a shared PC. Use only club pen drives today. Unknown drives can carry viruses, so pupils always ask before plugging one in or copying onto someone else's. Files stay fictional or limited to first name and school.