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A Coding Class, One Story at a Time

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A Coding Class, One Story at a Time

Build a narrative that gives a student op-ed a human connection.

Read the model

This student op-ed argues for adding a coding class. Notice how a small event becomes a developed narrative.

More Than a Finished Screen

1Our school should offer an introductory coding class. I used to picture coding as a race to make something impressive flash across a screen. Then a lunchtime workshop left me staring at a blank square, learning something I had not expected. The square was supposed to become a button that would display a welcome message.

2At first, I copied the workshop leader's example without pausing. Around me, students were choosing colors and changing fonts. I chose bright orange, certain that mine would be easy to spot. When I clicked my button, nothing happened. I clicked harder, as if the computer could measure how badly I wanted a response.

3My partner, Hyejin, slid her chair closer. The workshop leader was helping another table. “Tell me what you expected,” Hyejin said. Her notebook lay open beside the keyboard. I reached for the mouse, then stopped. “A message should appear,” I said. “But I don't know which instruction makes that happen.” Saying it aloud was worse than seeing the empty square.

4We read the instructions one line at a time. “This name has an extra letter,” Hyejin said, pointing between the screen and the example. I deleted it. Before clicking again, I traced the two names with my finger: one in the button's label, one in the instruction connected to it. This time, the welcome message appeared. My shoulders dropped. We had changed one letter, but I finally understood what we had changed.

5A few minutes later, Hyejin's button failed. I almost pointed straight at the line I thought was wrong. Instead, I asked what she expected to happen. She described the steps, found a missing connection, and fixed it herself. We spent the remaining minutes testing each other's buttons, deliberately trying choices we had not tried before.

6A single workshop did not turn us into experts. It did give us time to make a mistake, explain it, and try again. A coding class could make room for more of that work. My orange button was not the most polished project in the room. When I left, though, I could explain why it worked.

Study and revise the narrative

Choose or mark the best answer. Consider how each writing choice shapes the reader's experience.

1.
A writer wants to show that Hyejin's first question changes the narrator's behavior. Which change does the model establish?
Question 1 options
2.
Underline the sentence from paragraph 3 that directly shows the narrator answering Hyejin by naming the intended result.

3.
Which opening would best begin the workshop story in the middle of the action while preserving its situation?
Question 3 options
4.
A writer retells paragraph 4 in third-person limited, focusing on Hyejin rather than the original narrator. Which sentence gives access to Hyejin's thoughts without entering the other student's mind?
Question 4 options
5.
Which added exchange would create a believable complication between finding the extra letter and testing the repair?
Question 5 options
6.
Which revision compresses the repeated clicking in paragraph 2 while keeping the narrator's frustration visible?
Question 6 options
7.
A draft reads, “We found the extra letter. The message appeared.” Which revision repairs the missing causal step?
Question 7 options
8.
Sort these possible additions by the work they do in a workshop narrative.
9.
Which descriptive detail would most clearly contrast the narrator's frantic clicking with the more careful testing in paragraph 4?
Question 9 options
10.
The writer considers ending the anecdote immediately after the message appears in paragraph 4. What important narrative development would be lost by cutting paragraph 5?
Question 10 options

Write a different coding-class story

Plan an original real or imagined anecdote for a student op-ed supporting a coding class. Do not retell the model's button problem.

11.
Narrative launch: Write 2–3 sentences beginning at a specific moment when a student faces a coding-related challenge. Establish the place, the student's immediate goal, and a first-person or third-person limited point of view. Briefly identify whose experience the reader will follow.
12.
Plot map: Plan an attempt, an unexpected result, and a response that leads to an ending. Include a line of dialogue that changes what someone does next. Name one transition that shows simultaneous action and one that shows elapsed time.
13.
Narrative draft: Write 100–150 words using your plan. Maintain your point of view, connect events with purposeful transitions, and include dialogue and precise description. End with a result or reflection that grows out of the experience and could support an op-ed about adding a coding class.