Goodness, I didn't realize schools graded 1st graders like that anymore, with letter grades and %s and all that business. Who grades 1st graders on capitalization and punctuation, especially do early in the year? It sounds like your district, and your teacher, are both well behind the times. Sounds like they're all trying to make a name for themselves as dinosaurs.
FWIW, common core probably has little to no impact on that 65% grade. There are gobs of different textbooks that all claim to adhere to common core; some are great, some are terrible. I wouldn't be surprised if your district has a terrible one.
In the school district we are in they do not use letter grades, they use Above Level, at level, needs to improve and Unsatisfactory. The grades show the mastering levels of the CCSS.
The districts online gradebook when looking at my child work will show me percentages in each subject.
For a first grader to get an "E" on writing papers, capital letters need to be used always,needs to have a topic sentence always, at least one supporting sentence and one closing sentence always.
Periods used correctly all the time, added details..proper nouns,descriptive adjectives,vivid verbs, etc.
Sight words need to always be correct and phonics rules always have to be used when writing out words.
The teacher only allows 3 sentences to be written during writing.
I was sent home a First grade writing rubric. Things have changed from just 3 years ago when my oldest was in first grade.
