Meghalaya TET cheat sheet

Piaget's stages in order: sensorimotor (0–2, object permanence), preoperational (2–7, egocentrism, irreversibility), concrete operational (7–11, conservation, classification, seriation), formal operational (11+, abstract and hypothetical reasoning).

Vygotsky: Zone of Proximal Development is the gap between independent performance and assisted performance; scaffolding is temporary support withdrawn as competence grows; inner speech follows social speech.

Kohlberg's moral stages: pre-conventional (punishment/obedience, instrumental exchange), conventional (good boy/girl, law and order), post-conventional (social contract, universal ethical principles).

Erikson's school-relevant crises: industry vs inferiority (roughly 6–12 years) and identity vs role confusion (adolescence); success at each stage yields a virtue (competence, fidelity).

Inclusive education principle: children with disabilities or learning difficulties belong in the least restrictive environment, with curricular adaptation rather than segregation; RTE Act 2009 mandates free and compulsory education for ages 6–14.

Constructivist assessment: formative assessment is continuous and diagnostic, summative is terminal; a good question tests understanding, not recall of a single textbook sentence.

Learning disability markers: dyslexia (reading and decoding), dysgraphia (writing and spelling), dyscalculia (number sense and arithmetic), dyspraxia (motor coordination); these are not caused by low intelligence.

Continuous and Comprehensive Evaluation (CCE) covers scholastic plus co-scholastic areas and uses both formative and summative tools; it aims to reduce rote learning and exam anxiety.

Linguistic hierarchy: phoneme (smallest sound unit) → morpheme (smallest meaning unit) → word → phrase → clause → sentence; free morphemes stand alone, bound morphemes are affixes.

Phonetics vs phonology: phonetics studies physical speech sounds; phonology studies the sound system and phonemes that distinguish meaning (minimal pairs such as pin/bin).

Language skills order in acquisition: listening, speaking, reading, writing; reading is decoding plus comprehension, writing is encoding plus composition.

Approaches: grammar-translation (rules and translation), direct method (target language only), communicative language teaching (real communication, fluency over form), task-based learning (meaningful tasks).

L1 vs L2 acquisition: L1 is acquired naturally through exposure; L2 is learned, often with explicit instruction, and is shaped by transfer, motivation and the critical period.

Figures of speech: simile (comparison with like/as), metaphor (direct comparison), personification (human traits to non-human), alliteration (initial consonant repetition), onomatopoeia (sound imitation).

Reading sub-skills: skimming (gist), scanning (specific information), intensive reading (detailed comprehension), extensive reading (fluency and pleasure).

Error vs mistake: an error reflects incomplete competence and is systematic; a mistake is a performance slip the learner can self-correct; corrective feedback should target errors.

English tense system: simple present (habits/facts), present continuous (ongoing), present perfect (past action with present relevance), past simple (finished action), past perfect (earlier past), future with will/going to.

Articles: 'a/an' for indefinite singular countable nouns (an before vowel sound), 'the' for specific or previously mentioned nouns, zero article for general plurals and uncountables.

Subject-verb agreement: singular subject takes singular verb; collective nouns (team, jury) may take singular or plural depending on whether the group acts as one unit.

Prepositions of time: in (months, years, seasons), on (days, dates), at (exact times); prepositions of place: in (enclosed), on (surface), at (point).

Direct to indirect speech: shift tense back one step, change pronouns per speaker, change time/place words (now → then, today → that day, here → there) and reporting verbs.

Active to passive: object becomes subject, verb becomes be + past participle, agent introduced by 'by'; only transitive verbs passivise.

Punctuation: comma for lists and clauses, semicolon between related independent clauses, apostrophe for possession and contraction, colon to introduce a list or explanation.

Vocabulary strategies: context clues, prefixes (un-, re-, dis-), suffixes (-ness, -ment, -able), and word families build independent word learning.

Place value: each position is ten times the one to its right; in 4,58,732 the digit 5 stands for 50,000; Indian system groups as ones, thousands, lakhs, crores.

Divisibility tests: 2 (last digit even), 3 (digit sum divisible by 3), 4 (last two digits divisible by 4), 5 (ends 0 or 5), 9 (digit sum divisible by 9), 11 (alternating digit sum difference divisible by 11).

Perimeter and area: rectangle P = 2(l + b), A = l × b; square P = 4s, A = s²; triangle A = ½ × base × height; circle C = 2πr, A = πr².

Volume of a cuboid = l × b × h; volume of a cube = s³; 1 litre = 1000 cm³; 1 m³ = 1000 litres.

Average = sum of observations ÷ number of observations; percentage = (part ÷ whole) × 100; profit% and loss% are calculated on cost price.

Fractions: multiplying fractions multiplies numerators and denominators; dividing by a fraction means multiplying by its reciprocal; LCM is needed to add unlike fractions.

Angles: acute < 90°, right = 90°, obtuse between 90° and 180°, straight = 180°, reflex between 180° and 360°; angles of a triangle sum to 180°.

Area model of multiplication and the distributive law a × (b + c) = ab + ac underpin mental arithmetic strategies taught at elementary level.

Food chain direction: producer → primary consumer → secondary consumer; energy decreases at each trophic level (roughly 10% transfer), so food chains rarely exceed four or five links.

Photosynthesis: chlorophyll + sunlight + CO₂ + water → glucose + oxygen; it occurs in chloroplasts and is the entry point of energy into most ecosystems.

Water cycle stages: evaporation, transpiration, condensation, precipitation, collection; deforestation and paving reduce infiltration and raise surface runoff.

Human body systems: digestive (ingestion to absorption in small intestine), respiratory (gas exchange in alveoli), circulatory (heart pumps oxygenated blood through arteries), skeletal (support and protection).

States of matter: solid (fixed shape and volume), liquid (fixed volume, takes container shape), gas (fills container); change of state involves heat gain or loss without temperature change during melting/boiling.

Renewable vs non-renewable: solar, wind, hydro and biomass are renewable; coal, petroleum and natural gas are fossil fuels and non-renewable.

Health and hygiene: communicable diseases spread through air, water, food, vectors and contact; safe drinking water and handwashing are primary prevention measures.

Meghalaya context: living root bridges, sacred groves, limestone caves, heavy monsoon rainfall and shifting cultivation (jhum) are standard local examples for EVS teaching.

Indian Constitution: adopted 26 November 1949, came into force 26 January 1950; it is the longest written constitution and declares India a sovereign, socialist, secular, democratic republic.

Fundamental Rights (Part III) include equality, freedom, against exploitation, freedom of religion, cultural and educational rights, and constitutional remedies; Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment (1976).

Three tiers of government after the 73rd and 74th Amendments: Union, State, and local bodies (Panchayati Raj and municipalities); the Directive Principles (Part IV) are non-justiciable guidelines.

Physical divisions of India: Himalayas, Northern Plains, Peninsular Plateau, Indian Desert, Coastal Plains, Islands; the Tropic of Cancer passes through eight states including Rajasthan, Gujarat and Mizoram.

Monsoon mechanism: differential heating of land and sea plus the shift of the ITCZ; the Western Ghats and Meghalaya's Khasi hills (Mawsynram, Cherrapunji) record very high rainfall on windward slopes.

Meghalaya: formed on 21 January 1972 by splitting from Assam; capital Shillong; districts include East Khasi Hills, West Garo Hills and Ri Bhoi; inhabited mainly by Khasi, Garo and Jaintia communities.

Ancient India sequence: Indus Valley Civilisation, Vedic period, Mahajanapadas, Mauryan Empire (Chandragupta, Ashoka), Gupta Empire; Ashoka's dhamma and rock edicts are key syllabus items.

Map skills: latitude lines run east–west and measure north–south position; longitude lines run north–south and measure east–west position; IST is based on 82°30′E.

Piaget's stages: sensorimotor (0–2), preoperational (2–7), concrete operational (7–11), formal operational (11+).

Vygotsky's ZPD is the gap between independent and assisted performance.

Kohlberg's three moral levels: pre-conventional, conventional, post-conventional.

Erikson's industry vs inferiority stage covers roughly ages 6–12.

Dyslexia affects reading; dyscalculia affects number sense and arithmetic.

Formative assessment is continuous and diagnostic; summative is terminal.

RTE Act 2009 guarantees free education for ages 6–14.

Scaffolding is temporary support withdrawn as competence grows.

A phoneme is the smallest sound unit distinguishing meaning.

A morpheme is the smallest unit of meaning; affixes are bound morphemes.

Minimal pairs such as pin/bin test phoneme contrast.

Language skills develop as listening, speaking, reading, writing.

Skimming gives gist; scanning locates specific information.

Communicative language teaching prioritises real communication over form drills.

An error reflects incomplete competence; a mistake is a self-correctable slip.

Alliteration is repetition of initial consonant sounds.

Use 'an' before a vowel sound, 'a' before a consonant sound.

Present perfect links a past action to present relevance.

In indirect speech, shift tense one step back and change time words.

Passive voice requires a transitive verb and be + past participle.

Collective nouns take singular or plural verbs by unit vs members.

'In' for months and years, 'on' for days, 'at' for exact times.

A semicolon joins two related independent clauses.

Prefix 'un-' reverses meaning; suffix '-ness' forms nouns.

A number is divisible by 3 if its digit sum is divisible by 3.

A number is divisible by 11 if the alternating digit-sum difference is divisible by 11.

Area of a triangle = ½ × base × height.

Circumference of a circle = 2πr; area = πr².

Volume of a cuboid = length × breadth × height.

Average = sum of observations ÷ number of observations.

Profit percentage is calculated on cost price.

Angles of a triangle always sum to 180°.

Producers capture solar energy; consumers transfer it along the food chain.

About 10% of energy passes to the next trophic level.

Photosynthesis yields glucose and oxygen from CO₂ and water.

Water cycle: evaporation, condensation, precipitation, collection.

Gas exchange in the lungs occurs in the alveoli.

Coal and petroleum are non-renewable fossil fuels.

Handwashing and safe water prevent communicable disease.

Meghalaya's living root bridges and sacred groves are local EVS examples.

The Constitution came into force on 26 January 1950.

Fundamental Duties were added by the 42nd Amendment in 1976.

The Tropic of Cancer crosses eight Indian states.

Meghalaya became a state on 21 January 1972, capital Shillong.

Mawsynram and Cherrapunji lie in the Khasi hills of Meghalaya.

Latitude measures north–south position; longitude measures east–west.

Indian Standard Time is based on 82°30′E longitude.

The Mauryan Empire included Chandragupta and Ashoka.