First Term Exam Prep: ‘Manage time and keep 15 minutes for revision’

With less than a month left for the first term exams, it is time to get down to business and start preparing for the tests. This is true for all those students who are in the middle and senior schools. With the changed Board exam pattern, most schools start familiarising their students from class IX upwards with the question paper pattern even in the internal exams.

According to डॉ अंजु शर्मा, a हिन्दी teacher at Apeejay School, Nerul, to ensure that the students don’t panic during the Board exams, especially those taking the exam for the first time, the teachers let the students know the changed pattern and how to attempt the same.

“Not only do we give students who have come from class VIII to IX the internal question papers of the last few years so that they are familiar with the question paper pattern in class IX, we also ensure that the students of class X are given a question paper on the format that they will get in the Boards,” Sharma explained and hence, even the internal exam paper is of 80 marks.

So what should be the preparation for the Hindi exam?

Sharma said that the most important thing to do is to do away with rote learning. “When you rote learn, there is a high probability that you will forget. When you understand and learn, you can write the answer in your words even if you don’t know the exact words,” Sharma advised and shared the following tips to do well in the exam.

A.      Read the NCERT book chapters from the first work to the last at least three times. Don’t resort to rote learning. Understand what the chapter is saying. Once you understand the chapter/poem, you can answer any question from the chapter.

B.      Another reason to read the chapters multiple times is to be able to get the MCQs correct. If you have not read the chapter thoroughly, you won’t know the exact answer.

C.      Once you have read the chapter, make notes of all the key points. This will make it easy to revise.

D.      Time management is a must. For this you must practice writing at home to increase speed. This also ensures you finish the question well in time leaving 15 minutes for revision which is a must.

E.       If you find the syllabus a bit tough to tackle, break it into parts – grammar, verse, and poems. Study according to the plan and break up.

Time management is a must. For this you must practice writing at home to increase speed. This also ensures you finish the question well in time leaving 15 minutes for revision which is a must

–Dr Anju Sharma, Hindi Teacher, Apeejay School, Nerul

Key points for the exam

1.       The answer sheet must be presented neatly. Answers should be written in a chronological sequence.

2.       Hand writing should be neat and clean. Avoid too many cuttings.

3.       Speed and time management is very important. Keep 15 minutes for revision at the end.

4.       Plan to divide the time in advance to attempt all the questions according to question paper format

5.       Write the answers according to what the question has asked with reference to the writer’s name. Do not write more than what is asked. State your point to the T. Make sure that you answer the questions according to the marks attributed to the question.

Answer strength should be according to marks

1 mark: One word or one sentence

2 marks: 40 words

3 marks: 60 words

4 marks: 80 words

5 marks: 100 words

“Finally, avoid spelling mistakes and DON’T leave any question blank; write whatever you remember on that topic from the chapter. Do a quick check in the last 15 minutes kept for revision to see if all the questions have been answered,” Sharma said in conclusion.