I do something else in low level classes that links to the word search idea. I get authentic materials linked to whatever topic we are doing and get the students to highlight (preferably with fluorescent highlighter pens) keys words. Some examples - in a lesson about rooms of the house, I  got details of houses from estate agents and got the students to highlight rooms of the house that I'd written at the bottom of the page (explaining they didn't have to understand everything else). I've used pages from the Yellow Pages in the same way for lessons about the Dentist, learning to drive, jobs in the home (plumbers, builders, electricians etc). It's something everyone can do, even the least literate students at the logographic stage of learning to read. So it's also a good homework exercise.

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