Prince Horace, nicknamed Prince Brat, constantly creates mischief. But because of the custom of the time, he does not receive punishment. A whipping boy steps in to receive the whipping. Prince Horace becomes bored with his circumstances, so he forces his whipping boy Jemmy to run away for a little adventure. The two are soon captured by a couple of cutthroats who want a ransom from the king. Read this novel by Sid Fleischman to find out how Prince Horace and Jemmy survive in the hands of these cutthroats.

 Activity #1 ~ Story Elements PowerPoint

The day before beginning The Whipping Boy, I displayed the following anchor charts in the classroom. These stayed up for the duration of the novel. As students read, we added character traits. Once we had read approximately half the book, the characters’ main problems were added. At the end of the novel, the solutions to these problems were also added.

Activity #2 ~ Real Word Examples PowerPoint

This short ten slide PowerPoint covers why understanding prefixes and suffixes is important in real world situations. For example, what is a non-carbonated beverage? 

A Real World Example (PowerPoint)

Activity #3 ~ Prefix and Suffix Meanings PowerPoint

Each slide in this 11 slide PowerPoint asks students a question related to prefixes and suffixes. Students make guesses. To reveal the correct answer, just click. 

Activity #4 ~ The History of Whipping Boys

In this practice students read a one page nonfiction passage “The History behind Whipping Boys.” They then highlight all words in the passage that contained prefixes and suffixes. A PowerPoint is provided for the answer key. With each mouse click the next word containing a prefix or suffix is revealed. 

The History behind Whipping Boys (Printable)

The History behind Whipping Boys (PowerPoint showing Answers)

Activity #5 ~ Writing Activity

My students had a blast with this writing activity. In the activity, students made up funny situations that could happen if they didn’t know the meanings of prefixes.

For example, to prewash means to wash before. Some clothes might say prewash before wearing. If you did not know what the word prewash means, you could wear the new shirt you bought before washing it. The purple shirt might turn your skin purple. People could make fun of you for having purple skin. It is important to know the meanings of prefixes so you do not get into a situation where your friends could make fun of you.

Writing Activity with Prefixes and Suffixes

Activity #6 ~ Comparing Book Covers

Visit this webpage to see the book covers. 

Free Samples from The Whipping Boy Book Unit

This download contains vocabulary practice, a comprehension quiz, and a constructive response question for Chapters 1-2 plus a skill lesson on prefixes. The Whipping Boy Book Unit Samples 

 The Whipping Boy Book Unit

The Whipping Boy Book Unit contains graphic organizers for an interactive notebook and game activities covering vocabulary, comprehension questions, constructive response writing, and skill practice.