I say the punishment did not fit the crime. I see that the teacher is trying to teach the student responsibility, but if this is the first time after 150 days of remembering the signature, I believe the student should have been given a warning with a note home saying reminding you that it was not done. Everyone forgets once in a while and thats a lot of pressure to put on a 1st grader that the first mistake they make will lead to a major consequence.

Obviously no, I don't think a child should be punished just because of a parents mistake. You should have a talk with the teacher mainly because it was your fault and it was your responsibility it was yours. All the child knows is that the teacher wouldn't let me go play...

While I do think that losing all of recess is an excessive punishment, the child definitely knows more than "the teacher wouldn't let me go play." Students understand that they have responsibilities at home and the cosequences are (or should be) laid out well in advance in the classroom. When a student doesn't complete one of their responsibilities, they already know what the consequence will be. For example, in my classroom, when students have a note from home in their planner and they do not bring it to me first thing in the morning there is a consequence. When teachers lay out consequences and then do not stick to them it causes problems with classroom management. Yes, you forgot to sign the reading log one time, but if there are a dozen exceptions for every rule, it defeats to purpose of having rules and consequences in the first place.