What's included in the Rainforest I Wonder Discussion Prompts resource and why is it useful?

EYFS Rainforest I Wonder Discussion Prompts get children thinking and wondering out loud. Each slide shows one full-screen photograph with a single big question, and the slide notes give you follow-up questions and background facts, so any adult can lead a rich discussion with no preparation. The content includes a PowerPoint with 8 discussion prompts and an adult guidance slide, covering a jumping beetle, gorillas, pink river dolphins, tigers, life in the treetops, tree roots and rainforest sounds. They make ideal rainforest talk prompts and a carpet-time hook for your rainforest topic, developing children's communication and language skills and oracy.

Every slide supports the Early Learning Goals for Listening, Attention and Understanding and Speaking, and the questions also link to Understanding the World: The Natural World. Children's answers make useful observations to inform your ELG judgements.

The EEF Early Years Toolkit rates communication and language approaches at about +7 months' additional progress, at very low cost.

Rainforest Animals

Questions about the animals that live in the rainforest, such as "Why is this dolphin pink?"

Sights and Sounds

Questions about what you might see and hear in the rainforest, such as "What does it sound like in a rainforest when it's not raining?"

Rainforest Adventures

Imaginative questions about exploring the rainforest, such as "How would it feel to go on a rainforest adventure?"

Slide Notes for Adults

Every slide comes with follow-up questions in the notes, such as "Do plants and trees make sounds?", and some include background facts for the adult, such as why pink river dolphins get pinker as they grow older.

How do our EYFS I Wonder discussion prompts work?

Our I Wonder discussion prompts are a teacher-led PowerPoint for the interactive whiteboard. Show a slide, read the question aloud, give children thinking time, then use the slide notes to extend the discussion. Open the slides in Presenter View so you can see the notes while the class sees only the photo and question. The questions are open by design, so there's no right answer to find: the aim is talk, reasoning and vocabulary. You can also use them:

• as a carpet-time hook to open a topic, or as a daily "wonder" routine
• with talk partners, who turn and talk about the question before sharing with the class
• for small-group talk with a practitioner or TA, exploring one or two slides in depth
• in continuous provision, with a slide left on screen or printed and placed in a themed area such as a rainforest tuff tray
• as a writing and mark-making hook, with children drawing or emergent-writing their own "I wonder..." ideas
• at home, shared on your class app or newsletter as a family conversation starter

Try showing the photograph first and asking "What can you see? What do you wonder?" Stretch confident talkers with the follow-up questions in the notes, or simplify by narrowing an open question to a choice (e.g. "Noisy or quiet?"). Record children's own "I wonder" questions on a Wonder Wall and return to them through books, play and research.

Supporting Children with EAL and SEND

The full-screen photographs give every child something to talk about, so children can point, gesture or use single words before building to sentences. Pair the slides with Makaton or visuals your setting already uses. These simple approaches can also help:

• Simplified question stems: break questions into smaller steps and use yes/no questions (e.g. "Can you see the gorilla?", "Is the dolphin pink?").
• Reduce cognitive load: focus children's attention on the photo by pointing to key parts.
• Response scaffolds: provide sentence starters (e.g. "I wonder...", "I think...") to support expressive language.

You can explore more of our I Wonder discussion prompts here.