What grade do you teach?

I'm doing a split year 4/5 class. I really should be teaching in a primary school but I kind of had no choice. I'll be teaching at a Highschool next semester.

On the subject of teaching: Like I said before, I teach 5th grade religion class(also known as CCD) and I need tips on how to make the kids behave. There aren't too many more classes and the year is almost up. We basically finished the book so I tried letting them have free time but they were bouncing off the walls. I threaten to send them to the lady who runs the thing and she is viewed as a principal. However, I wouldn't actually do that because the principal is pretty weird and makes a huge deal out of everything. I try to reward this one kid where if he doesn't talk for 30 minutes (the class is 1 hour) then he can sit in a swirly computer chair. Every time he talks the 30 minutes starts over. Then there is one other kid that is bad but he just tries to be funny for the rest of the kids and doesn't seem to care. I have a co-teacher but he never comes and he lost the attendance list so I can't threaten to call the kids parents because we don't have the numbers and I can't get a new one because if the principal knows you haven't been taking attendance she flips.

So any tips?

Reward systems are good, but if it's late in the year then I wouldn't bother about it. My 5th grade class has a system where they earn stamps on a sheet, and when that fills up they get a prize.

I suggest you could make the lessons more interactive, and adopt some sort of group work. They're only 10 and listening for a whole hour is almost impossible for them. Maybe you could wear a hat, and state that the only person who is allowed to talk is the one wearing the hat. When they raise there hand, give them the hat and let them address the class.