If you’re teaching Who’s for the Game? by Jessie Pope, you don’t need to spend hours creating discussion questions, poetry analysis activities, essay tasks and creative responses from scratch.
This complete Who’s for the Game? teaching resource bundle brings together a varied collection of ready-to-use activities designed to take students from their first exploration of the poem to deeper, more confident independent analysis.
Use the resources across a sequence of lessons or choose individual activities to complement your existing teaching. Students can explore Pope’s presentation of war, recruitment, patriotism, courage, masculinity, social pressure and propaganda, while examining how her choices of sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone shape the poem’s persuasive presentation of enlistment.
Designed for secondary English and English Literature, the bundle can be used flexibly for whole-class teaching, paired and group discussion, independent learning, homework, revision and analytical writing.
This is not simply a collection of disconnected worksheets. The bundle combines close analysis, discussion, debate, extended writing and creative response, giving students multiple ways to engage with the poem while developing increasingly independent interpretations.
Supports close reading and detailed poetry analysis
Encourages active discussion, debate and interpretation
Develops students’ ability to support ideas with textual evidence
Combines analytical and creative approaches to poetry
Suitable for paired, group, whole-class and independent learning
Provides flexible activities for lessons, homework and revision
Explores Pope’s use of sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, metaphor, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone
Encourages students to consider the relationship between the poem and its First World War recruitment context
Poetry Analysis Task Cards exploring context, form and structure, title, speaker, themes, imagery, language devices, sound techniques, lexical choices, shifts, tone, setting, mood and personal response
36-question Roll the Dice Discussion Board exploring recruitment, propaganda, sporting imagery, courage, cowardice, patriotism, masculinity, social pressure, language, structure, tone and Pope’s overall message
10 Silent Debate statements designed to encourage students to form, justify and challenge interpretations of the poem
15 essay questions covering key areas of analysis including war as a game, recruitment, patriotism, courage, cowardice, sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone
10 creative writing prompts including recruitment speeches, counter-propaganda, podcast scripts, letters, dialogue, advertisements, poetry, historical fiction, radio broadcasts and short stories
9 creative classroom tasks, including a WWI recruitment campaign, podcast script, illustrated poem, persuasive speech, documentary storyboard and script, soldier’s response, propaganda analysis gallery, newspaper advertisement and propaganda-versus-reality collage
Teacher instructions for the Roll the Dice and Silent Debate activities, making both activities quick and straightforward to implement
Introduce Who’s for the Game? and develop students’ initial responses
Explore the social and historical context of First World War recruitment
Analyse Pope’s presentation of war as a game, competition and adventure
Explore how sporting imagery makes enlistment appear exciting and appealing
Examine themes including war, patriotism, courage, masculinity, duty, recruitment and social pressure
Analyse Pope’s use of rhetorical questions, direct address, metaphor and emotive language
Investigate the contrast between joining the “game” and taking “a seat in the stand”
Explore how the poem constructs ideas about courage and cowardice
Examine the significance of the suggestion that a soldier might “come back with a crutch”
Analyse how Pope personifies the country as “looking and calling for you”
Explore rhyme, rhythm, pace, structure and persuasive tone
Investigate how the poem can be read in relation to WWI recruitment and propaganda
Run low-prep paired, group or whole-class discussions
Encourage students to debate competing interpretations rather than search for a single “correct” reading
Set independent analytical, creative or revision work
Develop ideas for extended analytical and essay responses
Greater confidence analysing Who’s for the Game? independently
A deeper understanding of Jessie Pope’s presentation of recruitment and the First World War
Stronger ability to analyse persuasive language, imagery, form and structure
Greater understanding of how propaganda and social pressure can influence an audience
Experience developing and defending interpretations
Improved discussion and analytical writing skills
Greater confidence selecting and using textual evidence
Opportunities to approach the poem through both analytical and creative thinking
The variety of resources means the bundle can support far more than a single lesson. Begin with discussion and historical context, move into focused analysis of sporting imagery, persuasive language and structure, challenge students through Silent Debate, develop extended responses through the essay questions, or finish the unit with one of the creative tasks.
Teachers can select the activities that suit their class or combine them to create a broader Who’s for the Game? teaching sequence.
Download the complete Who’s for the Game? by Jessie Pope Teaching Resources Bundle and start using it immediately, from first reading and classroom discussion through to detailed poetry analysis, independent interpretation and extended writing.
If you’re teaching Who’s for the Game? by Jessie Pope, you don’t need to spend hours creating discussion questions, poetry analysis activities, essay tasks and creative responses from scratch.
This complete Who’s for the Game? teaching resource bundle brings together a varied collection of ready-to-use activities designed to take students from their first exploration of the poem to deeper, more confident independent analysis.
Use the resources across a sequence of lessons or choose individual activities to complement your existing teaching. Students can explore Pope’s presentation of war, recruitment, patriotism, courage, masculinity, social pressure and propaganda, while examining how her choices of sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone shape the poem’s persuasive presentation of enlistment.
Designed for secondary English and English Literature, the bundle can be used flexibly for whole-class teaching, paired and group discussion, independent learning, homework, revision and analytical writing.
This is not simply a collection of disconnected worksheets. The bundle combines close analysis, discussion, debate, extended writing and creative response, giving students multiple ways to engage with the poem while developing increasingly independent interpretations.
Supports close reading and detailed poetry analysis
Encourages active discussion, debate and interpretation
Develops students’ ability to support ideas with textual evidence
Combines analytical and creative approaches to poetry
Suitable for paired, group, whole-class and independent learning
Provides flexible activities for lessons, homework and revision
Explores Pope’s use of sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, metaphor, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone
Encourages students to consider the relationship between the poem and its First World War recruitment context
Poetry Analysis Task Cards exploring context, form and structure, title, speaker, themes, imagery, language devices, sound techniques, lexical choices, shifts, tone, setting, mood and personal response
36-question Roll the Dice Discussion Board exploring recruitment, propaganda, sporting imagery, courage, cowardice, patriotism, masculinity, social pressure, language, structure, tone and Pope’s overall message
10 Silent Debate statements designed to encourage students to form, justify and challenge interpretations of the poem
15 essay questions covering key areas of analysis including war as a game, recruitment, patriotism, courage, cowardice, sporting imagery, rhetorical questions, direct address, rhyme, rhythm, structure and tone
10 creative writing prompts including recruitment speeches, counter-propaganda, podcast scripts, letters, dialogue, advertisements, poetry, historical fiction, radio broadcasts and short stories
9 creative classroom tasks, including a WWI recruitment campaign, podcast script, illustrated poem, persuasive speech, documentary storyboard and script, soldier’s response, propaganda analysis gallery, newspaper advertisement and propaganda-versus-reality collage
Teacher instructions for the Roll the Dice and Silent Debate activities, making both activities quick and straightforward to implement
Introduce Who’s for the Game? and develop students’ initial responses
Explore the social and historical context of First World War recruitment
Analyse Pope’s presentation of war as a game, competition and adventure
Explore how sporting imagery makes enlistment appear exciting and appealing
Examine themes including war, patriotism, courage, masculinity, duty, recruitment and social pressure
Analyse Pope’s use of rhetorical questions, direct address, metaphor and emotive language
Investigate the contrast between joining the “game” and taking “a seat in the stand”
Explore how the poem constructs ideas about courage and cowardice
Examine the significance of the suggestion that a soldier might “come back with a crutch”
Analyse how Pope personifies the country as “looking and calling for you”
Explore rhyme, rhythm, pace, structure and persuasive tone
Investigate how the poem can be read in relation to WWI recruitment and propaganda
Run low-prep paired, group or whole-class discussions
Encourage students to debate competing interpretations rather than search for a single “correct” reading
Set independent analytical, creative or revision work
Develop ideas for extended analytical and essay responses
Greater confidence analysing Who’s for the Game? independently
A deeper understanding of Jessie Pope’s presentation of recruitment and the First World War
Stronger ability to analyse persuasive language, imagery, form and structure
Greater understanding of how propaganda and social pressure can influence an audience
Experience developing and defending interpretations
Improved discussion and analytical writing skills
Greater confidence selecting and using textual evidence
Opportunities to approach the poem through both analytical and creative thinking
The variety of resources means the bundle can support far more than a single lesson. Begin with discussion and historical context, move into focused analysis of sporting imagery, persuasive language and structure, challenge students through Silent Debate, develop extended responses through the essay questions, or finish the unit with one of the creative tasks.
Teachers can select the activities that suit their class or combine them to create a broader Who’s for the Game? teaching sequence.
Download the complete Who’s for the Game? by Jessie Pope Teaching Resources Bundle and start using it immediately, from first reading and classroom discussion through to detailed poetry analysis, independent interpretation and extended writing.
