Benjamin Cunningham · Moreland University · Learning Environment Plan · Step 4 of the LEP · October 18, 2026
Context and principle
Grade band: Prathom 4–6 (upper primary, ages 9–12), English as a foreign language, government village school in Rattanaburi district, Surin. Class: 30–45 children, one foreign teacher, a Thai co-teacher in the room for most lessons, 50-minute periods, individual desks that move. Learners: home languages Thai and Isan (Lao), with some Kui and Northern Khmer families; several children in each class who read Thai slowly, several who cannot sit for more than ten minutes, and in every class a few who go quiet when instructions come only in spoken English. Nobody has a formal diagnosis; supports are planned from what I observe, not from labels.
The principle: a transition is taught like content, and every transition has the same four parts. (1) A signal that is seen and heard, never only heard. (2) A picture of what comes next, on the board, before the signal. (3) A job for every child during the move. (4) A check that the move is finished before the next thing starts. Transitions are where learners with attention, processing and language needs fall behind, because a transition is usually a fast, spoken, one-time instruction in a language they are still decoding, with the room already in motion. Making every transition predictable, visual and bilingual removes the part that depends on hearing English quickly, so that the children who need the most support are not the ones who need the most correcting.
Time budget: no more than five minutes of a 50-minute lesson is transition. Each one in the table has a target time and is practiced to it.
The transitions, grouped
Twelve transitions cover a Prathom 4–6 English day. They fall into three groups: entering and leaving, changing activity inside the lesson, and changing place. Each row gives the signal, the routine the children know by heart, the target time, and the two support columns the rubric asks for.
A. Entering and leaving
| Transition | Signal | Routine | Time | Supports: learning differences | Supports: language barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Arrival and settling | Teacher at the door; the Do-Now slide already on the TV | Wai, go to the assigned seat, copy the day's three words from the board into the notebook, begin the Do-Now | 3 min | Assigned seat near the front for children who struggle to start; a printed Do-Now on the desk for slow copiers; one task, not three | The three words are shown with a picture and the Thai; Do-Now is a tick-or-draw task that needs no reading of instructions |
| 2. Greeting and agenda | Bell once; teacher stands under the visual schedule | Chorus greeting standing; teacher points along the five picture cards of today's lesson, class says each card's word | 2 min | The schedule is the same five card shapes every day; the child who needs it has the mini version on the desk and ticks cards off | Cards are picture + English + Thai; the co-teacher says one Thai line per card the first week, then only the English |
| 3. Lesson close | Two bells | Stop, stand, put desks back to rows, "one word you learned" to a partner, line up by rows | 3 min | A 2-minute visual timer on the TV before the bells; the same closing sentence frame every day; a named job ("chair checker") for the mover | The exit word can be said in English or Thai with the English attempted; a partner, never the whole class, hears it |
| 4. Leaving to the next room or teacher | Line leader holds the door card | Rows leave in order, quiet in the corridor, the co-teacher last | 2 min | Line order fixed for the month so no one is chosen last; the restless child walks beside the teacher | The door card shows where the class is going in picture + Thai |
B. Changing activity inside the lesson
| Transition | Signal | Routine | Time | Supports: learning differences | Supports: language barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5. Teacher talk to pair work | Hand raised, "Eyes up"; the pair-work card goes on the board | Turn to shoulder partner, the sentence frame is on the TV, Partner A starts | 30 s | Partners fixed for the month and chosen by me; a child with attention needs has a partner who starts first; the task is one exchange, modeled twice | Sentence frame in English with the Thai under it; a child with little English is Partner B so they hear it before saying it; Isan is allowed to agree on the meaning, English to answer |
| 6. Pair work to whole class | Countdown 5-4-3-2-1 on fingers, then "Freeze" | Hands still, mouths closed, eyes on the teacher; two pairs chosen before the countdown share | 20 s | The countdown gives processing time; the pairs are told before they are asked, never surprised | The two sharing pairs include a confident speaker; others are asked to repeat the pair's sentence in chorus, not to produce a new one |
| 7. Whole class to writing (seated, silent) | Lights off and on once; the pencil card | Sit, pencils out, the first line of the task written on the board as an example, "Three minutes, go" | 1 min | A copy of the task on the desk, the example sentence already on it; a 3-minute timer; extra time is announced for all, not for one child | The task instruction is one line of English with the Thai under it; the worksheet has the example done |
| 8. Writing to chorus or drill (standing) | One clap, the class claps back twice | Pencils down, stand behind the chair, hands on the chair back | 20 s | Standing is the movement break; the clap-back is the check that everyone heard | No words needed; the routine is physical and the same every time |
| 9. Screen to paper (app to word list) | Phone or TV goes dark; "Paper time" | Runners hand out the printed list, children find the word they just practiced | 1 min | The runner job rotates; the child who cannot wait is a runner; lists are numbered so "find number four" replaces "find the word" | The printed list has the Thai and the pronunciation guide, so the child who missed the audio still has the word |
C. Changing place
| Transition | Signal | Routine | Time | Supports: learning differences | Supports: language barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10. Rows to groups of four (and back) | The groups card on the board; "Tables" | Pairs turn to face the pair behind; group names (provinces) are on the card; tables are numbered on the floor with tape | 2 min each way | Groups are fixed and mixed; the child who needs it has the same seat in both layouts; the move is practiced to a timer on day one | Group names are provinces the children know; the card is picture + Thai; the co-teacher checks one table, not the room |
| 11. Rows to horseshoe or stations | The map card for that layout; floor tape marks the corners | Each row has a place on the map; the row leader reads it; desks carried in pairs | 3 min | Row leaders are chosen for calm, not ability; a child who gets overloaded by the noise has a standing job at the wall during the move | The map card is the same picture as the floor tape; no words are needed to find the place |
| 12. Classroom to outside (and back) | Line-up bell, the tree card on the door | Line up by rows, co-teacher at the back, walk to the shade circle, ring up around the teacher, same signal for "back" | 2 min each way | The outdoor lesson is before the hardest indoor one (see Step 3 seating plan); the ring puts the restless child next to the co-teacher; return is to rows, always | The circle instruction is shown, not said: the teacher walks the circle shape; vocabulary for outside (tree, line, circle, stop) is taught as the first outdoor lesson |
The online learning environment: eight transitions
Online for this grade band means two real cases, not a virtual school: (a) a LINE group video call with the class when school is closed (flood days, the 2566-style closures, a teacher away), joined on parents' or grandparents' phones, often shared by siblings; and (b) the in-class "online" minutes when the lesson runs on a phone or the TV: the EnglishTeacher.com practice app, Ploy Hears on the screen, a YouTube song. The transitions are the same four parts as in the room (signal, picture, job, check), with the extra rule that nothing depends on a child reading English on a small screen.
| Transition | Signal | Routine | Time | Supports: learning differences | Supports: language barriers |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| O1. Joining the call | The link and the start time posted in the LINE group the evening before, with a picture of the first slide | Join, mute, say your name when the teacher calls the row, thumbs-up on camera | 4 min | Rows are called in a fixed order so the child knows when their turn is; a child without a camera says the name only | The join message is in Thai with the English word for the lesson; a grandparent can follow it; the co-teacher is in the call for the first minutes |
| O2. Teacher screen to child's turn | Teacher says the row, holds up the "your turn" card to the camera | Child unmutes, says the line, re-mutes; teacher repeats the line once for everyone | 20 s | Turn order is visible (names on the shared slide); the child with attention needs is early in the order; the line is on the slide, not only spoken | The slide shows the sentence frame with the Thai; a child may say the Thai meaning first, then the English |
| O3. Listening to chorus on the call | The "everyone" card; teacher counts 1-2-3 | All unmute for ten seconds and say it together, then all mute (the teacher mutes the room) | 30 s | Nobody is heard alone; the countdown gives processing time | The chorus is the place to try the sound without being judged; the Isan-speaking child hears forty others say it |
| O4. Call to offline task (paper at home) | The "paper" card; the task photographed into LINE | Camera off, three minutes on the printed list or the notebook, photo of the work sent to the group or shown to the camera | 1 min out, 1 min back | The task is one item with the example done; the timer is on the shared slide; a child may show, not send | The task sheet is bilingual and was handed out on the last school day; the parent can read the Thai |
| O5. Call to the app (phone) and back | The app card; the topic number said and shown | Leave the call, open EnglishTeacher.com, practice the topic for five minutes, come back on the bell message in LINE | 2 min each way | Topic number instead of topic name; the app has no score, so returning late costs nothing; the "back" message is a picture of the bell | The app is bilingual and reads the word aloud; a child with no internet after the call uses the printed list (the app works offline after the first open) |
| O6. Ending the call | Two-bell sound played by the teacher; the "close" card | One word learned, typed or said; wave; teacher ends the call last | 2 min | The exit word can be typed by a parent for a child who cannot; nobody is kept to the end | Exit word in English or Thai; the teacher types the English back in LINE for every child's word |
| O7. In class: TV lesson to desks | TV dark; the pencil card | Eyes from screen to board, the word just practiced is written on the board, copy it | 1 min | The dark screen is the signal; a child with a mini-schedule ticks "Learn"; the word is already on the board, no copying from a moving screen | The board word has the Thai; the pronunciation guide stays on the board after the video is gone |
| O8. In class: phone station to the next station | Bell; the station card for the next corner | Phone placed face down on the stand, walk clockwise, next card read by the row leader | 1 min | The phone is put down first, then the move, so nobody carries it; the clockwise order never changes | Station cards are picture + Thai; no instruction is spoken over the noise of the move |
Step-by-step transitions in the Learning Environment Plan
Six physical and six online transitions written as the steps I will teach and then run, each with its check. These are the ones I will use every week; the rest of the table is used as the lesson needs them.
Physical classroom
Teacher talk to pair work (30 seconds). (1) Put the pair-work card on the board and the sentence frame on the TV. (2) Raise a hand and say "Eyes up"; wait for every hand to go up in reply. (3) Say and show: "Partner A asks, Partner B answers." Model it once with the co-teacher. (4) Say "Go" and start the one-minute timer. (5) Walk to the two pairs who will share afterward and tell them. Check: every pair is facing each other and talking before I move on.
Pair work to whole class (20 seconds). (1) Hold up five fingers and count down aloud, 5-4-3-2-1. (2) Say "Freeze": hands still, eyes to the teacher. (3) Call the two pairs named in step 5 above. (4) The class repeats each shared sentence in chorus. Check: silence on "Freeze" within three seconds.
Whole class to silent writing (1 minute). (1) Lights off and on once; hold up the pencil card. (2) Write the example sentence on the board and read it aloud with the Thai. (3) Say "Three minutes"; start the visible timer. (4) Runners put a printed copy of the task on the desks of the children on the support list. (5) Circulate from the back row forward. Check: pencils moving on every desk within one minute.
Writing to standing drill (20 seconds). (1) One clap. (2) The class claps twice and puts pencils down. (3) "Stand behind your chair, hands on the chair." (4) Begin the chorus with the word on the board. Check: the double clap came back from the whole room.
Rows to groups of four and back (2 minutes each way). (1) Put the groups card on the board and say "Tables." (2) Row leaders stand; the pairs turn to face the pair behind. (3) Group names are read by the row leader from the card. (4) The co-teacher goes to the table on the support list. (5) To return: "Tables back" and the chair checker calls out when the rows are straight. Check: timer under two minutes; all desks on the tape marks.
Lesson close and line-up (3 minutes). (1) Two bells at the two-minute mark on the timer. (2) Stop; stand; desks back to rows. (3) "One word you learned" to a shoulder partner; the partner says it back in English. (4) Line leader takes the door card; rows line up in the fixed order. (5) Co-teacher at the back; walk out. Check: the room is in rows and the door card shows the next room.
Online classroom
Joining the LINE call (4 minutes). (1) Post the link, time and first-slide picture in the group the evening before, in Thai. (2) Open the call five minutes early with the agenda slide showing. (3) Call each row in order; each child says their name and gives a thumbs-up. (4) Co-teacher checks the list and messages the families not yet in. Check: the row count on the slide matches the names heard.
Teacher screen to a child's turn (20 seconds). (1) Say the row and hold the "your turn" card to the camera. (2) Name the child from the visible order on the slide. (3) The child unmutes, says the line on the slide, re-mutes. (4) Repeat the line once for everyone. Check: every named child was heard or passed by choice, never skipped by accident.
Chorus on the call (30 seconds). (1) Show the "everyone" card. (2) Count 1-2-3. (3) Everyone unmutes and says the word together for ten seconds. (4) Mute all. Check: at least two-thirds of the tiles showed mouths moving.
Call to paper task and back (1 minute each way). (1) Show the paper card and send the task photo to the group. (2) Cameras off, three-minute timer on the slide. (3) Families send a photo or hold the page to the camera. (4) Call the rows back on. Check: a photo or a shown page from every household present.
Call to the app and back (2 minutes each way). (1) Show the app card and say the topic number. (2) Everyone leaves the call and opens the topic; five minutes. (3) Send the bell picture to the group. (4) Rejoin by rows. Check: the rejoin count matches the join count; anyone missing gets a LINE message from the co-teacher.
Ending the call (2 minutes). (1) Play the two-bell sound and show the close card. (2) Each row says or types one English word learned. (3) Type the English back for every word in the group. (4) Wave; end the call last. Check: a word from every household, written in the group so the family has it.
The shared toolkit
Four signals, and only four. One bell = look at the teacher. Two bells = the lesson is closing. One clap, class claps twice = stand. Countdown on fingers to "Freeze" = stop and quiet. Every signal is seen as well as heard, so a child who did not catch the words still catches the move. No new signal is added until the four are automatic (about two weeks).
The visual schedule. Five card slots on the board, filled before the class arrives: Do-Now → Learn → Practice → Make → Close. Each card carries a picture, the English word and the Thai. A card is turned over when its part is done, so the room can see where it is in the lesson. A laminated mini-schedule sits on the desk of any child who needs to tick the steps off.
Bilingual cue cards. One A5 card per transition, picture + English + Thai, held up with the signal: pairs, tables, pencils, stand, line up, outside, tables back. The same cards are on the floor tape and on the door. For the Kui- and Khmer-speaking children the picture does the work; the Thai is there for the co-teacher to point to.
The co-teacher's role in a transition. Before: says the one Thai line for the first week of a new routine, then stops. During: stands at the back or at the one table or child who needs a hand, never at the front, so that the room looks to the English teacher for the signal. After: gives the thumbs-up that the move is finished. We agree this at the start of term and write it on the schedule card.
Jobs. Row leader, chair checker, runner, door card, line leader, timer watcher. Jobs rotate weekly and are given on purpose: the child who cannot wait is the runner; the child who gets lost in noise holds the door card; the child who needs to be seen as capable is the row leader.
Practice plan, first two weeks. Day 1: the four signals, taught as a game, ten minutes. Days 2–5: one transition from the table taught, modeled and timed each day, with the class trying to beat yesterday's time. Week 2: all twelve in use; any transition over its target time is re-taught, not scolded. From week 3 the only teaching is a quick re-run after a holiday or a timetable change.
Fourteen transition strategies for learning differences and language barriers
The tables above apply these; here they are named once each, with the learner they are for and the evidence or reasoning behind them.
See it and hear it. Every signal is a sound plus a card or gesture. For: children who process spoken English slowly, children with hearing or attention difficulty, every new arrival. Why: a dual-channel cue is caught by a child who missed either half.
The picture before the words. The next activity's card goes up before the instruction is spoken. For: processing-speed and working-memory needs; beginners in English. Why: the child predicts the move instead of decoding it.
Fixed order, fixed partner, fixed seat. Rows, partners, groups and line order are set for a month and change only by my decision. For: anxiety, attention, autism-like needs for predictability; the shy child who would otherwise be chosen last. Why: removes the social negotiation from every move.
Processing time built in. The finger countdown, the clap-back and the timer give three to five seconds before anything is expected. For: slow processors, second-language listeners. Why: a child who needs five seconds gets them without asking.
One instruction, one line, two languages. Each task instruction is one English sentence with the Thai under it, on the board and on the sheet. For: reading difficulty, Isan/Kui/Khmer speakers whose Thai is a second language too. Why: the Thai is read by the co-teacher or a neighbor; the English is heard with it.
Chorus before solo. No child speaks alone until the class has said it together, then a row, then a pair. For: anxious and reluctant speakers; the child who fears being wrong in front of forty. Why: the first attempt is hidden in the crowd.
Told before asked. The pairs or children who will share are told during the activity, never surprised after it. For: attention and anxiety needs. Why: a child who knows the turn is coming can prepare the sentence.
A job in every move. Runner, row leader, chair checker, door card, timer watcher. For: the child who cannot sit still, the child who needs to be seen as capable. Why: the move becomes the task, not the gap between tasks.
Paper beside every screen. Each app or TV activity has a printed bilingual list with the pronunciation guide. For: children without a phone, children who lose the audio, slow readers. Why: nothing a child learns depends on catching a moving screen once.
Standing as the movement break. Every drill is done standing, every ten minutes; stations are a whole standing period. For: attention and restlessness. Why: stand-biased classrooms showed about 12% more on-task engagement in a year-long study (Dornhecker et al., 2015).
The co-teacher at the back, not the front. The Thai co-teacher supports one child or table during a move and speaks Thai only in the first week of a new routine. For: language barriers, children who need a quiet word. Why: the room keeps looking to the English signal; the support is private.
Home language to agree, English to answer. Pairs may settle the meaning in Thai or Isan before answering in English. For: all second-language learners; Isan-dominant children in particular. Why: comprehension is not blocked by production; the English still comes.
Numbers instead of names. Topics, stations and list items are numbered ("find number four," "topic 12") so a child does not need to read an English word to find the place. For: reading difficulty, beginners. Why: a digit is read by everyone.
The family can read it. Everything sent to LINE is in Thai with a picture, timed for the evening, and answerable by a photo. For: children at home with grandparents, households with one shared phone. Why: the adult who helps may read little Thai and no English; a picture and a photo reply need neither.
How I will know the transitions work
Three numbers, kept on one sheet in the plan book.
| Measure | How | Target by week 3 | If missed |
|---|---|---|---|
| Transition time | The timer watcher writes the seconds for the three timed moves each lesson | Each move at or under its target in the table | Re-teach that one move as a game the next day; do not add a consequence |
| Redirects | A tally mark each time I stop teaching to correct behavior during a move | Fewer than 3 per lesson, down from a first-week baseline | Check which move produces them; move the child to a job or a seat near the co-teacher |
| Who is lost | At each check, the co-teacher notes any child not where the routine says | Zero children lost two lessons running | Give that child the mini-schedule and the picture card for that move; pair with a steady partner |
The plan is reviewed with the co-teacher on the first Friday of each month, and after any timetable change or holiday the four signals are re-run on the first day back.
Rationale, collaboration and sources
Why these transitions and not a generic list. A Prathom 4–6 English lesson in a Thai government school has three features most transition guides do not plan for: forty children, one foreign teacher whose instructions are in the target language, and a class in which the home language is often not the school language either. The design answer in every row is the same: the transition is predictable, visible and bilingual, so that the children with the least English and the least patience are not the ones being corrected. Transitions were planned on the research finding that the task should set the layout and the move (Wannarka & Ruhl, 2008), and that structured movement raises on-task time rather than costing it (Dornhecker et al., 2015; Kuo, Browning & Penner, 2018).
Collaboration. This step was developed in the cohort group for the Learning Environment Plan and with the Thai co-teacher at Ban Han Hee School, who tested the four signals and the Thai wording of the cue cards. Group members: Lovely, Shian, Alex and Cameron, with Benjamin Cunningham.
Rubric check. Physical transitions: 12 (Outstanding = 10 or more). Online transitions: 8 (Outstanding = 7 or more). Strategies for learning differences and language barriers: 14 (Outstanding = 10 or more). Step-by-step transitions: 6 physical and 6 online, each with a check (Outstanding = 6 or more each). Beyond the rubric: a time budget per transition, a measurement plan, a co-teacher role, and a two-week practice plan.
Sources
Wannarka, R. & Ruhl, K. (2008). Seating arrangements that promote positive academic and behavioural outcomes: a review of empirical research. Support for Learning, 23(2). Summarized at Schools Week.
Dornhecker, M., Blake, J. J., Benden, M., Zhao, H. & Wendel, M. (2015). The effect of stand-biased desks on academic engagement. International Journal of Health Promotion and Education. Summarized at Technology Networks.
Kuo, M., Browning, M. H. E. M. & Penner, M. L. (2018). Do lessons in nature boost subsequent classroom engagement? Frontiers in Psychology, 8, 2253. Summarized at Teacher Magazine.
Step 3 of this Learning Environment Plan: Seating plans for an Isan primary ESL classroom (the five arrangements the transitions move between).
The learner-profile method (ELL project, Part 5) for the support list used in transitions 3, 5 and 7.
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