If you do not see the Cosmos feature in your Penda account, please note that your district has opted out of using this feature for the time being. There is no need to open a support ticket with Penda, as your account is fully active and working as intended by your district settings!

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Using Cosmos - Teacher Quick Start Guide

Cosmos is an AI-powered instructional assistant built into Penda that helps students when they get stuck—without giving them the answer. It keeps students learning while giving you insight into where they need support.

Cosmos is built into Penda and is not an open chatbot. It only helps with the content students are working on and does not search the internet. All responses are designed to support learning while keeping students safe and focused.

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1. Cosmos is turned ON for all students if your district has opted in to using the feature.

You can control Cosmos access:

• Per student in the student profile
• Per assignment in the Assignment Wizard 

⚠️ Cosmos is automatically turned OFF for assessments.

⚠️ You will not see the option for Cosmos AI Assistant in the Options section if your District has opted out of the feature.

 

2. Assign Activities as Usual

No extra setup is needed. Cosmos works automatically in supported activities.

 

3. How Students Use Cosmos

Students click the glowing astronaut icon in the bottom left corner of any Penda activity screen.

Students choose what they need help with

On Reading Screens:

• Summarize this
• Explain this another way

On Question Screens:

• Help me understand the question 
• Give me a hint 
• Coach me through it 
• Give me a strategy

Use the tools within the Cosmos pop-up window: 

	Icon	What it does
	Calendar	View chat history to revisit prior learning steps
	Speaker	Listen to Cosmos read the help aloud.
	Full Screen	Expand the window for easier viewing side-by-side
	"X"	Close the Cosmos window when you're ready to answer.

🚫 Cosmos provides guidance, but it will NOT give the answer.

Note: Using Translation in Penda

There are two ways to translate in Penda, and they do different things:

Cosmos Help & Menu Translation

• Go to Profile Settings → Language → Select your language
  • Translates Cosmos help into your language
  • Translates buttons and menus in Penda
  • 🚫 This does NOT translate the science lesson content

Activity Translation

• Click the headphone icon in the bottom left corner of the activity screen
  • Translates the activity reading passages, questions, and answer choices
  • 🚫 This does NOT translate Cosmos Help and Menus

💡 Remember

• Profile Settings = Cosmos help + menus
• Headphone icon = lesson content

 

4. Teacher View: Analyzing Cosmos Usage

In the Assignment Report, you can view and expand the Cosmos AI Summary to:

• View how many students received help
• See which screens students needed the most help with

⚠️ If you do not see the Cosmos AI Summary, please note that your district has opted out of using this feature for the time being. There is no need to open a support ticket with Penda, as your account is fully active and working as intended by your district settings!

• See a summary of prompts used on certain screens
• See a summary of activity accuracy with and without Cosmos
• Review Cosmos responses alongside student work
• See which students used Cosmos

Use Cosmos data insights to inform instruction:

• Identify where students are getting stuck
• Spot patterns in misunderstandings
• Plan small group instruction
• Adjust whole-class reteaching

Pro-Tips for Teachers

• Encourage students to try Cosmos before asking for help
• Remind students it gives hints—not answers
• Use Assignment Report data to guide next steps