Communication Nation

Exploring communication through media, language, and community building

Find the audio and accompanying Learning Guides full of vocabulary, discussion questions, writing prompts, print-ready activities, book lists and additional resources below.

We can only have effective communication when we can trust our sources. In this first episode, we focus on media literacy with Eisha Buch from Common Sense Media, an organization that helps kids and families understand the media they use every day. Eisha explains that media literacy is all about thinking critically about the media we consume. This means asking questions about what we see, read, and hear to determine if it’s trustworthy and helpful. We dive deeper into the concept of media literacy by learning the difference between misinformation and disinformation. Everyone has a bias, and we learn how to look for bias in our media, and be aware of the sources in our media. Finally, we think about our own “media diet,” which is the amount and types of media we consume every day. 

This episode comes with a free Learning Guide.

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Listen to the following segments and use the activities and resources in the Learning Guide (above) to further learning

Communication Nation Episode 2, Mother Tongues explores some of the different languages people speak and why they are so important. Hosted by Katie Stone and featuring the TCH Kids Crew, this episode takes us on a journey to understand how our native languages, or mother tongues, shape our identity and culture. We meet Joanna Ho, an author who wrote a book called “Say My Name” which highlights the importance of pronouncing names correctly, as names carry deep meaning and respect for a person’s heritage. Then we go to Cochiti Pueblo in New Mexico to learn about how the Keres Children’s Learning Center is preserving the Keres language for future generations. We discover the challenges faced by indigenous languages and the efforts to keep them alive through education. 

This episode comes with a free Learning Guide.

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Listen to the following segments and use the activities and resources in the Learning Guide (above) to further learning

Our bodies speak. Communication Nation Episode 3, Other Voices explores the wide array of nonverbal communication, though our hands, gestures, and our bodies. Katie talks with Marci Laurel, a speech language therapist who teaches neurodivergent children and adults the skills of nonverbal communication. We also meet Brad Klein, a Child of Deaf Parents or CODA comedian, and his deaf parents Marty and Candy. In a conversation with our Kids Crew, we learn about sign language and deaf culture. Some people communicate using assistive technology devices, and many of us use voice to text technology to speed our writing. Rio Rancho Public Schools in New Mexico uses assistive communication technology in every classroom, and on all playgrounds. Tibbany Ho, the Assistive Technology Coordinator for the district explains how AT works, and why it helps everyone understand one another a little better. 

This episode comes with a free Learning Guide.

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Listen to the following segments and use the activities and resources in the Learning Guide (above) to further learning

Communication Nation Episode 4, Together We Can explores how teambuilding happens with good communication skills. Combining all we have learned in our other episodes, our Kids Crew meet actor and theater educator Doug Montoya, who lead Katie and the kids in an improvisation workshop. By following some simple rules, we create a team dynamic using our words to make our group stronger. This episode explores other ways we use teambuilding to create community, including through sports. Throughout human history we have used fun and games to build strong communities that work well together. Katie teaches us about the traditional indigenous games of Pok-a-Tok from the Mayan people of Central America, and Incan Chasquis, plus the many games we have imported to the Americas from around the world. 

This episode comes with a free Learning Guide.

Click here for a preview & to download

Listen to the following segments and use the activities and resources in the Learning Guide (above) to further learning

This series was produced by our Executive Producer, Katie Stone, with help from producers Christina Stella, Gus Tafoya, Eli Henley, Sarah Gabrielli, McKenzie Graunke and Thaniel Lentz. Chad Scheer provided live engineering at Outpost Performance Space. Amber Shiel writes our learning guides. These episodes were recorded at Outpost Performance Space, Cochiti Pueblo, and the solar powered Sunspot Solar Studio in Albuquerque, New Mexico. 

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