Lesson 20: The Highprinces' War — Conquest or Vengeance?
50 min
Student Lesson
Lesson 20: The Highprinces' War — Conquest or Vengeance?
Student Learning Objectives
Content
Students will analyze how Sanderson develops character and theme through key details in The Way of Kings.
Language
Students will use textual evidence from The Way of Kings to support written and oral analysis.
Foundations
Students will apply foundational reading strategies — fluency, decoding, and vocabulary in context — while engaging with The Way of Kings.
Essential Question
What does the interaction between characters in this passage reveal about the cost of the caste system?
How does the imagery of highstorms and Stormlight reflect the novel's central themes?
Connections to
Knowledge-Building
Close reading "The Way of Kings, Chapters 29-31: The War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains" builds the evidence base students need to analyze how Sanderson develops character and theme across The Way of Kings.
Enduring Understanding
Close reading with annotation develops the habit of supporting claims with precise textual evidence — the same skill required in every writing lesson in this unit.
Future Lessons
Evidence gathered from this passage will be referenced in upcoming writing and discussion lessons.
Unit Performance Task
This close read directly informs the unit's performance task, which asks students to synthesize evidence across multiple scenes to argue what The Way of Kings claims about its central themes.
Lesson Pacing
| Lesson Flow | Purpose of Learning Experience |
|---|---|
Launch5 Minutes | Orient students to the day's learning goals and activate relevant prior knowledge. |
Literacy Lab10 Minutes | Provide direct instruction on the day's focus skill before releasing students to practice with the anchor text. |
Learning in Action30 Minutes | Students apply the day's focus skill with teacher support through circulation, conferring, and targeted questioning. |
Vocabulary
Vocabulary Addressed in Lesson
Shardblade
A magical weapon summoned from the bond with a spren, capable of cutting through any material except living flesh, which it kills by severing the soul.
Nahel bond
A symbiotic connection between a spren and a human that grants Surgebinding powers in exchange for oaths.
Stormlight
Magical energy carried by highstorms, stored in gemstones, and used to fuel Surgebinding and fabrials.
Additional Vocabulary
Not available for this lesson
Material List
- Text: The Way of Kings, Chapters 29-31: The War of Reckoning on the Shattered Plains
- Graphic organizer: Character motivation tracker
- Handout: Annotation guide — tracking theme and evidence
- Student journals
Routines & Protocols
- Close Read & Annotation Protocol
- Think-Pair-Share
- Turn-and-Talk