We refreshed our prior learning reviewing how the Civil War started in 1861 when the Confederacy attacked Fort Sumpter. We then read about border states who seceded because they refused to bear arms against their fellow Southerners and saw Lincoln's actions as unjust. Other border states, in the north, stayed in the union because while slavery was legal, it was not such a big part of the economy. We examined the strategies to fight a war from both sides - the North and the South. Our take-away was that the South, who had influence on the world's cotton market, needed to fight a defensive war and hoped for foreign intervention, whereas the North needed to fight an active war to subdue the Rebels. I wrote the different border states on the whiteboard and Ben looked at them on a map to note their breakdown or divisions into the North and South. Ben was encouraged to take a picture of the whiteboard as it contained a great deal of information. He also told me that he found his homework and asked if he could complete it during lunch or later today before submitting it. It was very encouraging. I was very happy he brought it in and allowed him to continue to work on it in class or in his free time.