Workshops and such...

In fourth grade, my teacher greatly encouraged her students to read, read, read! During her class, I remember doing literature circles, and each circle would rotate books every month or so so that, eventually, every student in the class read all the same books. This was really fun because working in small groups helped me learn better and focus more on improving my reading skills. Literature circles worked well in this classroom.
As far as thematic units, my high school would have a character trait every month, and the library would have books that were about that specific character trait; even though it was not required for students to read these books, it was a great way to bring the students' attention to those books.
I can't remember using reading and writing workshops, but I remember every couple of weeks, in about the second-third grade, each student (or sometimes groups of students) would go to the kidney-shaped table in the back and each student would read aloud while my teacher would listen. She would ask us if we had any questions about our reading, then send us back to our desks. I also don't remember using writing workshops, but I remember doing much peer editing in middle school during the infamous year of the writing test... I wish my teacher spent more one-on-one time conferencing with us to make sure we knew what we could have improved on.

The Giver

I would love to teach The Giver by Lois Lowry in my classroom. It contains symbolism, interesting characters, and most importantly, a wonderful theme. I read this book in the seventh grade, and it has since remained on my top five favorite books list. It has been a while since I have read the book, so my knowledge is a little dusty. The theme is family and love; the main character, Jonas, witnesses society's deterioration away from love and into a more concise lifestyle. I could have students respond to The Giver by having them put themselves in Jonas shoes, asking them if they would have done things differently than he did. I believe journals are a great way for students to reflect and take time to examine what they have been reading; although some teachers over use journals, I think that having a journal entry each class, or at least once a week, is a great way to get students to open up and to get to know students individually, which creates for a stronger learning environment.