Stakes with colored ribbons for rough grade.
Blue is grade, white for one foot, red for two, red and white combo for three, yellow for four feet.
Ribbons directly on the ground, notched in with a hatchet, are sometimes used for finish grade work when there is no lazer or gps around. Ribbons on the ground indicate tenths instead of feet. The same scale applys, blue is always grade, white for one, etc.
A twist on this is you can add a blue to signify fill, so for example, blue and red would indicate fill 2 tenths.
This is a handy method when grading by yourself, or to keep the grade checker farther ahead of your machine so you are not waiting on his shot.