We work a lot on singing voice and solo singing opportunities with younger students (at least I know I do, it's a big focus of my Foundation curriculum) but I do find myself neglecting this with older students.
It can be especially difficult if they are older beginners - if you are in your first few years at a school which is new to the Kodaly approach meaning the older students are not so keen on being asked to sing by themselves in front of everyone. (I wrote about this in last week's post, I'd found a great call & response folk song was my breakthrough moment with some students like this).
However, solo singing is really important not only for you as a teacher to be able to assess students, but for the students themselves to self-assess and build confidence through seeing progress in their singing.
One game that can help with this is "Closet Key".
It works similarly to "Doggie, Doggie" in that there is a selected student in the middle of a circle with their eyes closed and they have to guess who it was that sang a section of the song by themselves. Instead of passing a bone, you're passing a key much like the one pictured above (which I have borrowed from my box of Christmas tree ornaments and intend to return,,,some day....probably)
However, the section sung by yourself is now longer and more exposed, thus being a more appropriate challenge for older students (I'm thinking older beginner yr 5/6 or even yr 7/8 secondary kids).
The song is also entirely within a do-re-mi range, which makes it a perfect song to analyse as part of an older beginner's program!
You can check out an analysis of the song and game on my Teachers Pay Teachers store here