If you want to hit nearly all of the icons of depth and complexity in one giant unit for upper elementary, the one I did for years with my 4th graders on the Faberge Eggs will help you to achieve that goal. This was one of the rare lessons that I repeated because it just had everything: history, intrigue, ethics, multiple perspectives, art, and much more. Though I tweaked details each year, it never failed to engage the students.
Byrdseed TV
Because my Faberge Eggs unit was so dependably successful, I chose to offer the details on Byrdseed TV when invited by Ian Byrd to share some lessons. If you’re not familiar with Byrdseed TV, I recommend you look into it. With a subscription you can get year-round access to hundreds of creative lessons, projects, and investigations — and you can get a free trial to start.
I don’t recall when I did my lesson for Byrdseed, but let’s just say that when I started teaching my 4th grade gifted students about Faberge, the lesson revolved around a video from PBS in their Treasures of the World series. On VHS. (I know. I’m that old!) After VCR’s lost their appeal, there was a blip of a moment when you could find the videos on YouTube. However that is no longer the case, and PBS doesn’t seem interested in upgrading them to a streaming format, as far as I can tell.
This all led up to a teacher (shout out to Tina!) emailing me last week because some of the resources in my Byrdseed video are no longer available. So, I thought I’d give you some of the updates that I gave her.
Faberge Videos
The videos I found that looked similar to the original PBS one are long. I did not watch them, so I can’t attest to their suitability for your students. The first is called, Fabergé Masterpieces : The Exquisite Art of Imperial Eggs. The second is, Raiders of the Lost Art: The Hunt for Fabergé Eggs. If you want a shorter video (about 7 minutes) that is definitely kid-appropriate, you can use Bite-Sized History with Mr. Jonathan – Fabergé Eggs from the Osceola Library. The only problem with this last one is that it doesn’t really tell about what happened to the Romanov family, which was a central part of my original lesson since we discussed the ethics of their behavior and the consequences they suffered.
Empathy
In my lesson, we talked about the multiple perspectives of the rich, but somewhat ignorant Romanovs, their increasingly disgruntled subjects, and the jeweler, Faberge. We discussed the empathy that the jeweler must have had for his clients in order to create such masterpieces. Part of the unit included students making their own eggs and then making “surprises” for someone else’s egg (THE BEST EXPERIENCE EVERY YEAR). In order to do this, I paired up the students and guided them through some team-building and interview activities. Unfortunately, the team-building resource I originally included no longer exists. In its place, I would recommend either Stoke Deck or Empatico. You could also try selecting questions from a resource like this book or these cards to respond to with their partners. You could also use the Getting To Know You Hexagons.
Beauty and Truth
The theme throughout the 4th grade year for my class was, “Masterpieces.” When I left that teaching assignment after 19 years, I began to learn about Visible Thinking Routines. (Here is an example of a different Visible Thinking Routine.) I realized that the Beauty and Truth Visible Thinking Routine would have been perfect to integrate into my Faberge unit. So, I created a Faberge lesson based on that routine, which you are welcome to use.
Timeless Relevance
Though the story of the Romanovs and their Faberge eggs occurred hundreds of years ago, there are still many applications to the world as it is now. Using the “Over Time” icon could likely generate some interesting discussions in your class as you compare the circumstances that led to the sad demise of the family to those that exist now in Russia and other places around the globe. Were lessons learned from the violence that surrounded the decadent lives of the Romanovs, or is history doomed to repeat itself?