READ Strategy (8 ½ X 11 handout) The READ Strategy is a four-step structured cognitive routine that facilitates students determining the meaning of unknown words or phrases using contextual clues.  The READ strategy complements the FACADES Word Meaning Strategy.  Through repetition and deliberate practice, students develop the habit of reading the context where the unknown word or phrase exists, examining and analyzing the semantic and syntactic signals around the unknown word or phrase, and then determining its meaning.  Students must know what constitutes context and where to locate it.