CBSE 10 - 2023 - 2024

• Background

Traditionally, language-learning materials beyond the initial stages have been sourced from literature: prose, fiction and poetry. While there is a trend for inclusion of a wider range of contemporary and authentic texts, accessible and culturally appropriate pieces of literature should play a pivotal role at the secondary stage of education. The English class should not be seen as a place merely to read poems and stories in, but an area of activities to develop the learner’s imagination as a major aim of language study, and to equip the learner with communicative skills to perform various language functions through speech and writing.

• Objectives:

Objectives of the course are to enable learners to:

1. build greater confidence and proficiency in oral and written communication
2. develop the ability and knowledge required in order to engage in independent reflection and inquiry
3. use appropriate English to communicate in various social settings
4. equip learners with essential language skills to question and to articulate their point of view
5. build competence in the different aspects of English
6. develop sensitivity to, and appreciation of, other varieties of English, like Indian English, and the culture they reflect
7. enable the learner to access knowledge and information through reference skills (consulting a dictionary / thesaurus, library, internet, etc.)
8.  develop curiosity and creativity through extensive reading
9. facilitate self-learning to enable them to become independent learners
10. review, organise and edit their own work and work done by peers
11. integrate listening and speaking skills in the curriculum.
12.  give a brief oral description of events / incidents of topical interest
13. retell the contents of authentic audio texts (weather reports, public announcements, simple advertisements, short interviews, etc.)
14. participate in conversations, discussions, etc., on topics of mutual interest in non-classroom situations
15. narrate a story which has been depicted pictorially or in any other non-verbal mode
16. respond, in writing, to business letters, official communications email etc.
17. read and identify the main points / significant details of texts like scripts of audio-video interviews, discussions, debates, etc.
18. write without prior preparation on a given topic and be able to defend or explain the stand taken / views expressed in the form of article, speech, or a debate
19. write a summary of short lectures on familiar topics by making / taking notes
20. write an assessment of different points of views expressed in a discussion / debate
21. read poems effectively (with proper rhythm and intonation)
22. transcode information from a graph / chart to a description / report and write a dialogue, short story or report
23.  Language Items

In addition to consolidating the grammatical items practised earlier, the courses at the secondary level seek to reinforce the following explicitly:

1. sequence of tenses
2. reported speech in extended texts
3. modal auxiliaries (those not covered at upper primary)
4. non-finites (infinitives, gerunds, participles)
5. conditional clauses
6. complex and compound sentences
7. phrasal verbs and prepositional phrases
8. cohesive devices
9. punctuation (semicolon, colon, dash, hyphen, parenthesis or use of brackets and exclamation mark)
10. Methods and Techniques

The methodology is based on a multi-skill, activity-based, learner-centered approach. Care is taken to fulfill the functional (communicative), literary (aesthetic) and cultural (sociological) needs of the learner. In this situation, the teacher is the facilitator of learning, She/he presents language items, contrives situations which motivates the child to use English for the purposes of communication and expression. Aural-oral teaching and testing is an integral feature of the teaching-learning process. The electronic and print media could be used extensively. A few suggested activities are:

1. Role play
2. Simulating real life situations
3. Dramatising and miming
4. Problem solving and decision making
5. Interpreting information given in tabular form and schedule
6. Using newspaper clippings
7. Borrowing situations from the world around the learners, from books and from other disciplines
8. Using language games, riddles, puzzles and jokes
9. Interpreting pictures / sketches / cartoons
10. Debating and discussing
11. Narrating and discussing stories, anecdotes, etc.
12. Reciting poems
13.  Working in pairs and groups
14.  Using media inputs - computer, television, video cassettes, tapes, software packages

Unit III: Natural Phenomena :

• Chapter - Light – Reflection and Refraction : Reflection of light by curved surfaces; Images formed by spherical mirrors, centre of curvature,principal axis, principal focus, focal length, mirror formula (Derivation not required), magnification Refraction; Laws of refraction, refractive index. Refraction of light by spherical lens; Image formed by spherical lenses; Lens formula (Derivation not required); Magnification. Power of a lens. Refraction of light through a prism, dispersion of light, scattering of light, applications in daily life.

Unit IV: Effects of Current

• Chapter - Electricity Electric current, potential difference and electric current. Ohm’s law; Resistance, Resistivity, Factors on which the resistance of a conductor depends. Series combination of resistors, parallel combination of resistors and its applications in daily life. Heating effect of electric current and its applications in daily life. Electric power, Interrelation between P, V, I and R.
• Chapter -Magnetic effects of current : Magnetic field, field lines, field due to a current carrying conductor, field due to current carrying coil or solenoid; Force on current carrying conductor, Fleming’s Left Hand Rule, Electric Motor, Electromagnetic induction. Induced potential difference, Induced current. Fleming’s Right Hand Rule.

Unit I: Chemical Substances - Nature and Behaviour

• Chapter 1 - "Chemical reactions: Chemical equation, Balanced chemical equation, implications of abalanced chemical equation, types of chemical reactions: combination, decomposition,displacement, double displacement, precipitation, neutralization, oxidation and reduction.
• Chapter 2 - Acids, bases and salts: Their definitions in terms of furnishing of H+ and OH- ions, Generalproperties, examples and uses, concept of pH scale (Definition relating to logarithm notrequired), importance of pH in everyday life; preparation and uses of Sodium Hydroxide,Bleaching powder, Baking soda, Washing soda and Plaster of Paris.
• Chapter 3 - Metals and nonmetals: Properties of metals and non-metals; Reactivity series; Formation and properties of ionic compounds.
• Chapter 4 - Carbon compounds: Covalent bonding in carbon compounds. Versatile nature of carbon.Homologous series.     
• Chapter 5 - Periodic classification of elements: Need for classification, early attempts at classification of elements (Dobereiner’s Triads, Newland’s Law of Octaves, Mendeleev’s Periodic Table), Modern periodic table, gradation in properties, valency, atomic number, metallic and non-metallic properties.